Adventure in Mushroom Kingdom
by TheSlinkyKid
Summary: In an adaptation of the Mario Bros first adventure,the bros live their normal lives in New Donk City with their roommate Pauline. Things get complicated when Princess Toadstool takes Mario away from his home and family one night, and Pauline and Luigi go off to rescue him. Only for an attack from Bowser being on the horizon. Updates at the end of every month.
1. Trouble in NDC

Trouble in NDC

In the summer afternoon of New Donk City, the Mario brothers are looking over a set of blueprints. "Va bene," Mario started, "quindi dovremmo mettere le valvole a pressione qui-"  
"Ciao, ragazzi," Pauline strutted in a jumpsuit, with a jovial bounce. "How's it going?"

"Oh, uh, we're just figuring out plumbing stuff for the building over." Luigi said as he rolled up the blueprints.

"What are you doing out here?" Ask Mario.

Pauline dusted herself off, "one of the cranes broke down, so they called me in to fix it."

"Oh, yeah, I worked on of those before. They're a pain in the neck to operate," said Luigi.

"Honestly, it's about time this city expanded with the amount of overcrowding there is." Pauline said. "Granted, I'm not thrilled with another building meant to be climbable."

"Alright, this is where and I meet an impasse," Mario rebuttals. "I say, more climbable buildings!" He argued with gusto. "Makes getting places easier, nice view, good way to exercise and quite frankly just fun."

"Your fun is a safety hazard." She stood defiantly. "You and I both know you can't trust those apes to not accidentally crash through a window and cause a wreck in some poor shmoe's apartment. And I don't think placating to make it easier for them helps anyone."

"Mario, we're going to be late," Luigi piped up, with no effect. On the rooftop of the building next to them was Donkey Kong swingin around the infrastructures. He starts to look closer to the two having their chat, eyes set on Pauline.

"Lady, you're overreacting," Mario continued. "It's fun, and it's not like anyone's getting hurt or anything." Donkey Kong charges in and grabs Pauline, knocking the brothers over.

He charges up the unfinished building, and all the construction workers fleeing the scene. During this, Pauline's suit gets ripped from the knees down and the sleeves ripped off. He continued to drag her up the steel bars and past the barrels and tools.

The brothers were left in a daze, with Luigi pulling his cap over his eyes. Mario, finally registering what happened, pushed his way through the panicked crowd and started climbing. The steel bars started to bend and creaked above him. He peeked above him and saw the Pauline hugging a bar up above, with Donkey Kong throwing barrels.

 _Are you kidding me?_ Mario thought to himself. Then he almost got hit by a barrel that he quickly jumped over. _Okay, I guess not._

Running down the metallic pathways only keeping his eyes on Pauline, he nearly fell off the end of it. He grasped at the ladder, and looked how far the fall would've been. His vision began to blur and tightened his grip on the ladder. The crowd forming at the bottom and their yells began to be muffled.

Then he heard Pauline's screams of terror and desperation, and forced himself up the ladder and continued. The commotion, the bars continuous deformation and Pauline's screams filled the air once more. As the world became crystal clear, he scaled the unfinished building once more.

Higher up, as night fell, Mario found a walkie talkie and noticed one close to his brother on ground level. He knew that this battle would keep going till there was no building left to cover. Such a fate would leave Mario unable to get close. He grabbed the walkie talkie and yelled into it, hoping it would reach him. And it did.

"Luigi!" Luigi jumped from the event. "I need you to do me a favor."

"Mario! Cosa stai facendo?" He yelled frantically, "Quella grande scimmia ti farà male!"

"Yes, and he's going to hurt Pauline too if you don't help me!"

"Um, okay. What do I need to do? I want to make sure you two are okay."

"Go into a crane and hook it to the top of the building if you can. When I say the word, yank it out and it should fall on the bars below with no damage."

"Uh, okay, but why-"

"Why are there fireballs? Chi sta costruendo questo?" Mario screamed.

"Nevermind, you're busy!" Luigi ran off to a crane. He positioned it over the top bar and hooked onto a less secure piece between two bars. Donkey Kong and Pauline reach it as Mario follows after.

Instead of trying to reach them again, Mario made sure he was beneath the secure bars above him. Pauline saw the crane above, and saw the divide between the bars and this one. She crawled over to the secure bar, as she reached it, DK noticed.

"Now!" Mario yelled into his walkie talkie, and so Luigi complied. The bar was removed right under his feet, and gravity took its course. They looked over as Donkey Kong came down with a crashing thud on the ground. Mario ran over to another bar that Pauline was on.

She was shaking uncontrollably, and Mario grabbed her hand and looked up to her. She looked over at him and yelled, "WHY DID YOU DO THAT? YOU COULD'VE GOTTEN HURT!"

"You- you were in trouble!" He panted, not realizing how out of breath he was.

"Yeah, but we could've gotten the police and," she glanced down at the crowd. "Oh, we are very high! We need to go down!" She hugged onto the steer bar and Mario.

"It's okay Pauline, we're okay," he stroked her hair. She buried her head into his chest and held him closer. "You think you can walk down?" She shook her head. "Want me to carry you?" She let out a small "uh huh" through a murmur. Then, a laugh.

"Hey," she didn't lift her head, "so, I was right. I told you so." Mario looked off into the distance as his eyes glazed over.

"Well, technically this isn't messing up some poor shmoe's apartment, so-"

"Bring me down, you jerk!" Pauline pushed away, both with a nervous laugh.

"Okay, okay." He walked over and picked her up. Mario looked over to the skyscrapers below them.

He focused on the rail ahead of him instead. Everytime he looked at how high above they were, he gripped Pauline harder to remind himself to be careful. Trying to keep a balanced path when everything is going against it.

Nonetheless, he succeeded and brought her down. Luigi ran over with tears in his eyes and hugs them. His swarm of questions was only cut off by the army of reporters following suite.

"How did you do such a feat?"

"Jumpman! What made you believe it was possible?"

"What's your favorite fruit? Mine's watermelon!" That one may or may not have been a kid trying to get a question for a school newspaper.

"Jumpman, what are you and Lady gonna do now?"

"I" the crowd froze as his raised his hand, "am going to bed."

"What?" Luigi asked before Mario nearly collapsed onto the ground. He and Pauline grabbed and Pauline carried him. Luigi pushed through the crowd and hailed a taxi.

"Alright, enough questions! Let him rest." They ducked into the taxi as the crowd continued to hoard them. The taxi drove off and left the reporters in the dust.

Mario found himself in a cold empty abyss, with no end in sight. It's as if someone took a blindfold to him and dropped him off in a field on the verge of winter. That is until smoke and flames started to encrust his feet.

A figure hidden behind a trail of smoke stood ahead of him. It loomed over Mario, making him feel small and insignificant. The only thing making it seem less intimidating was the distance. Followed by the ground shaking with it's foot steps. A tremor that was only beaten by it's roar.

Mario snapped out of bed in a cold sweat. He held onto the warm comforter and looked around his room. It was terribly messy with knick knacks cluttering his shelves and clothes strewn about the floor. Video games and cords were all cluttered in a plastic bin under a small cable TV. He breathed a small air of relief.

He walked into the living room, where Pauline and Luigi were having a conversation with each other. He looked at both of them, and a grin came over face. "You guys are okay!"

"There's our superstar," said Pauline.

"Bro, you're awake!" Luigi said. Mario tackle hugged him, and did the same with Pauline.

"Of course we're okay, because of you." She kneeled down to be at equal height.

"Heh, I don't understand you sometimes," said Luigi. "How do you do something like that, and the next day your reaction is nothing but cheer?"

"Why wouldn't it be?" He rebuttal. "We're alive! We faced a giant battle and won! That's more than enough reason to cheer."

"Suppose you're right," he took a sip of coffee. "By the way, coffee's done. Made your favorite."

"And I made your favorite breakfast too, it's on the counter." Pauline said.

"Thank you, but you don't have to do that."

"Yes we do. I don't know where I'd be without ya. Especially now," Pauline smiled.

Mario took a bite of eggs and looked over at the clock. "Wait, Luigi we're late. We gotta go!"

"It's already taken care of," he replied, setting up a video game. "Boss called in and said we could have a few days off because of what happened.

"Oh."

"Wanna play a game with me?"

"Assolutamente!"

"Great!" Luigi turned on the TV to it being a news report of Mario's heroism. "Well, that was quick."

"We are not sure of the names of the hero and damsel, so far being labeled 'Jumpman' and 'Lady,'" said the reporter.

"Jumpman and Lady?" Mario questioned.

"Well if we ever become superheros, we know what not to call ourselves," Pauline drank the coffee that was almost as bitter as her.

"After this break, we'll go into reports of feuding between Mushroom Kingdom and Koopa Kingdom continue," said the reporter, "and how things are heating up."

"Let's just get to the game," said Mario. "I can't handle that right now."

"Destra," Luigi wrapped his arm around him, "giochiamo!"

"Yeah. Let's play!" Mario agreed.

That same time, news of the heroic "Jumpman" spread like wildfire. Even to the royals of Mushroom Kingdom took notice, and then some.

They played their game straight for the following three days, taking turns taking naps. It hit two am when they were on the last level.

Then Pauline came in and tripped on the power plug.

"Pauline!" Luigi cried.

"What? I was getting water," she replied. She found the plug in, and inserted it back in. It started on the first level.

"You erased our entire game!" Luigi yelled.

"We spent days on that," Mario said, too exhausted to yell. But you could tell, something inside of him broke.

"Oh, I'm sorry," she started giggling.

"I'm glad you think it's funny!" Luigi said.

"You two get mad so rarely," she said in a fit of laughter. "I'm sorry, I'm very loopy. Everything is funny to me right now."

"Just go to bed, you've done enough!" He pointed towards her room.

"Whatever you say, _dad._ " Pauline yelled back, as the door slammed.

"Guys, we're gonna wake up the neighbors," Mario said point blank. Luigi started laughing too.

"Ok, I'm going to bed too. We'll deal with that later," he motioned to the console and got off the couch.

"Sure we can't do anything else? I don't wanna go to bed." Mario begged.

"Why not?"

"The nightmare came back, I don't wanna sleep." He admitted sheepishly.

"Oh," Luigi patted his shoulder, "Beh, sai che è solo un sogno, giusto?" ("Well, you know it's just a dream, right?")

"Sì, ma tu sai quanto cattivo." ("Yes, but you know how bad they can get.")

"Tutto apposto. Basta dormire con la tv. Se succede qualcosa, ti sveglierò." ("Alright. Just sleep with the tv on. If something happens, I'll wake you up.")

"Grazie. Ti amo." ("Thank you. Love ya.")

"Ti amo anch'io," ("Love you too") Luigi headed off to bed, and Mario turned the station.

"King Koopa continued his threats against the Mushroom nation," said the news anchor as he flipped over. "The Mushroom King and Queen has said their piece, yet no word from target of warped affection, Princess Toadstool. Speculation that she is nowhere near the castle anymore for the last two days. With no word about her whereabouts from the royals. We now go to-" Mario flipped the channel to a cartoon.

He grabbed an old blanket from the closet, and rested himself on the couch. He closed his eyes for what he felt was a moment, when he heard a knock at the door. He looked at the clock. _Who could be here at four am?_

He dragged himself to the door, where a blonde woman in sunglasses and a hoodie stood before him. "Hi. Are you Jumpman?" She asked in a familiar high pitched voice.

"Um. Well, my name is Mario, but yeah," he said. "Why are you here?" She removed her sunglasses and pulled down her hoodie to reveal a crown. It took a minute to register since he was dead tired, "you're- are you Princess Toadstool?" He took a step back.

"Yes." She took out a pen and paper, and started writing on the door. "Does anyone live with you?"

"Uh, yes," he answered with confusion. "My brother Luigi, and my roommate Pauline. Why do you ask?"

"Because they should know where you're at." She finished the letter and taped it to the back of the door.

"What?"

"You're coming with me," she said without missing a beat. "You're going to be my new guard. Now come along." Peach grabbed his arm and closed the door behind them.

"Um, okay then." He said with bewilderment.

"We must go now. We don't have a lot of time," she dragged him down the apartments into a car, and took off. They left New Donk City before sunrise hit.


	2. Defenders of Mushroom Kingdom

Mario was just waking up in a pink and gold covered comforter. The bed was soft and fluffy the way bricks usually aren't. He woke up to Toadsworth shaking his arm. "G'morning, Master Mario. Breakfast is being held in the dining hall on the first level, your presence is requested."

"No thank you. I was on a four hour plane trip on two hours of sleep," he argued. "I'll show up at lunch." The servant left the room. A little while later, Peach came in and woke him up again.

"Mario, I can't have you on a backwards schedule," she said, yanking the covers off.

"Stelle, perché," he asked weakly. "Your majesty, training won't do me any good while I'm like this."

"Suppose you're right," she tapped her chin. "But I'm tired too, and I'm still going. Also, training is not very difficult, I can teach you some basics. Now please get out of bed."

"Fine," he slumped out of bed. "Do you have any coffee then?"

"Yes, we do," she replied, and they walked downstairs to the kitchen. Mario poured a cup from the pot and handed it to Peach. He proceeded to drink straight from the pot and walked into the dining hall.

The king and queen were prattling on about some subject before diverted their attention to Mario.

"Um, sweetie, this is who you chose?" The king asked.

"Yes father. I know he doesn't look like much, but," she started.

"No, that wasn't the issue," he interrupted. "Eh, what's your name, son?"

"Um, Mario, sir," he bowed. The king waved his hand to get him to stop.

"Do you have a last name," a glimmer of hope shined in his eyes.

"No, my mother didn't have one herself," he answered. "She was orphaned and never met her parents, and she never bothered to give herself one."

"I see," he looked over to his wife. "I hope you enjoy your stay here. Now excuse us, the Queen and I have other duties to attend to. I'm sure our Princess and Toadsworth will look after you just fine." He brought his wife out of the dining hall as the servants cleaned up.

"Wait," Peach floated next to him. "What if there's two Marios in the same room?"

"Well, most other people do have last names,"

"Right, so anyway," Peach said with no reaction, "I'll show you where the power ups are. They're fairly easy to pick up, so it won't take long to learn."

"We have a couple in New Donk, like the 1-Ups," he said.

"And fire flowers. Have any experience with them?" He thought back to dodging giant fireballs on the building infrastructure.

"You could say that. Your majesty, I really don't think I would be the best handler with that." He fidgeted with his gloves. "Or really any of this."

"Sure you are," she groaned. "I mean, you were able to save your girlfriend in New Donk, you can surely take on this."

"I think Donkey Kong and King Koopa are two very different things," he said. "Also, we're not a couple anymore."

"Oh, sorry things couldn't work out."

"Yeah, but that was over a year ago. Don't know what the news reports are saying," he trailed off. "Wait, that doesn't even matter here- I can't fight King Koopa!" Peach raised her eyebrow. "Look, I want to help, but I think you got the wrong idea."

"Little late to be bringing this up now." She held herself up with regal elegance.

"I slept for like two minutes, the coffee is just now kicking in," he explained, rubbing his eyes. "I didn't even fight DK myself."  
"Well, someone had to take care of him. Is there someone I should know about?" She crossed her arms.  
"No. There wasn't," his body tensed.

"Alright then," she eyed him suspiciously. "Come along now."

' _Luigi shouldn't have to deal with this,'_ Mario thought. ' _No one should have to deal with him. Maybe I should stay, so she doesn't try to recruit anyone else, at least for the time being.'_ He looked up at her cold stare as they moved along.

He followed her into a room where power ups were scattered around, and a singular question block in the corner.

"Now, here are some supplies you'll need," she said. "I'd suggest grabbing a handful." She stood rigidly, with her hands behind her back. He grabbed some mushrooms and a tool box with a large hammer inside. He was about to grab more power ups, but was quickly disrupted by a blast in the hallway leading to them.

"Peach!" Yelled out a high pitched voice, "his horrificness is getting impatient with you!" Some koopas and goombas crashed into each other running into the room.

"Quick, grab a power up!" Peach yelled to Mario. He instead whacked a koopa with the hammer. "Or hammer, that works too." She grabbed a fire flower and starting toppling over enemies as well. She forms her wish power as a white shield in front of her, and yanks Mario by the wrist.

Kamek flies in over the rest and breaks down the shield with a few blasts. They both collapsed on the ground, with Kamek moving over to Peach, not even seeing Mario. Mario's body shook and impulsively threw the hammer at him. 'Perché ho fatto questo? Mi ucciderà! (Why did I do this? He will kill me!)' He thought.

Kamek just lingered over Peach, who was slowly picking herself back up. He was stunned silent with his mouth gaping open. "Y-you," he growled, "how did you- why are you- Oh who cares?" He charged up his wand and struck as Peach hit him across the room with a frying pan. The blast missed Mario and hit the wall.

"Where did you get a frying pan?" Mario asked bluntly.

"We keep a lot of weird stuff in this room," she shrugged. Kamek encased Mario with magic ropes and brought him close.

"Oh, like the rest of your family wasn't a total nightmare to deal with," his body ached as he was slammed against the ceiling. Peach clawed at the air and spun out fire balls to reach, but no luck. Worse still, the troops were surrounding her. "You and your brother could've been dealt with the day you were born, but nooo, that stupid Yoshi had to save you!"

"Cosa stai parland- I mean, what are you talking about," Mario's vision blurred again.

Kamek laughed, "you don't remember, do you Mario?" Mario could feel his heart race as Kamek slammed him to the ground. He was forced to sit up, his body was seen shaking beneath the ropes. "Let me show you a reminder!"

The room filled with smoke as a fire presentation burst in front of him. A similar dark silhouette from his dreams emerged, but much closer than before, even bigger than thought of. The fiery red mane could be seen this time, with the scaly green skin and large spikes. The ceiling started falling apart, and breaking the ground around him.

Mario shook in his ropes with a cold sweat, then stopped. He couldn't feel anything or emote, or properly registered what was happening before him. His entire body went numb, with the racing thoughts from before vanishing. He was aware of the room collapsing around him- but he felt nothing.

"Mario," a screamed pierced through the ringing in his ears. "Help me!" Mario rapidly blinked and looked around the room. The pink room could be seen once again, as the illusion before him became more apparent.

He looked over his shoulder to find Peach being swarmed by henchmen, out of fire and tied up. He struggled through the magic ropes, as the flames from the projection encased him. He started breathing heavily and could feel the flames around them. He lunged out of the flames right into the pile of henchmen and grabbed Peach.

"Mario, that block over there!" She pointed at the floating question block in the corner. "It has a super star, grab it!" He couldn't afford himself to catch a breath and busted out the star.

Both Peach and Mario were affected so Peach leaped out and grabbed another fire flower. Mario followed suite and blasted fire around, colliding with troops as well. Once those power ups ran out, the two starting using more and more, as the room emptied. Luckily, the troops were by and large defeated by then.

"Army," called out Kamek, "retreat!" The troops ran out of a giant hole in the hallway wall into an airship. Mario and Peach, both out of breath and lightheaded, saw them go. "This was the final straw, Princess! You and your little 'guard' better prepare for an invasion!" The crew flew off, with the King, Queen and Toadsworth rushing in.

"Honey, are you alright," asked the Queen.

"How bout you, son," the King asked, picking up a disheveled Peach.

"We're oka-" he tried standing up, only to collapse to his knees again. "We're alive."

Peach struggled to stay up, but staggered her way to Mario. She knelt down and grabbed a few syrup bottles out and 1 Ups. "Here, these will help," she handed her supply to him. He gulped them down, and noticed she wasn't eating any.

"Aren't you going to have any," He combed his hand through his hair.

"I can go without it. You need it more than I do," she took more deep breathes. Mario's heart stop pounding and his vision cleared. He was able to breath normally, and felt like he could go for a jog. "Right, so… I guess that will do for training today."

"Sweetie, you should go lie down," the Queen held her daughter's shoulders. "Your father actually needs to talk to Master Mario about something."

"Yes, right this way," he gestured him over to him.

"Is Pea- Uh, Princess Toadstool gonna be okay?" Mario looked back at the struggling Peach.

"She hasn't been okay for a very long time," he looked off into the distance. "But um, you don't have to worry about that. You'll have your own issues to be concerned with."

"Well, her safety is now my issue-"

"No, it's not that," he opened the door to the library. "Did Kamek say anything to you?"

"Yes," he tugged on his gloves again. "He said he knew me and my brother, and showed me a vision of King Koopa breathing down fire on me."

"You have no idea what that's about?"

"No." The recurring dream flashed through his mind.

"I see," he looked resigned. "I suppose Willow and Antonio never would tell you."

"Willow and- My mama and papa?" He made sure to be right next to his side.

"The very same," he took out a large leather bound book, and a portrait behind it. The portrait was a much younger King and Queen, with his parents. "When Willow was around your age, she became my head of guard, and Antonio an advisor."

They sat down on the loveseat in the center of the room. He flipped through the scrapbook and shown his parents accomplishments. News clippings of Willow defending the Kingdom from evil doers and mystical forces. With Antonio helping with peace treaties with other Kingdoms, such as Bean Bean Kingdom and opening trades with Metro Kingdom.

"Ah, I remember those days," he pointed towards Willow holding up gold. "Willow would rush into the castle, prattling on about a treasure map she found, and drag Antonio into finding it. The two were inseparable, it was adorable. I was actually able to go on one trip to Sky Land, flying around in the clouds was wonderful."

"I never knew any of this," Mario took the book out of his hands.

"I know" he said. "Willow and Antonio moved away when you were born. It was too dangerous for you two. Part of that was when you and Luigi we're born, Kamek kidnapped him."

"Che cosa?" He tightened his grip on the book. The King flipped to the end of the book with his parents holding the brothers up. Another picture of was the two on Yoshi's back.

"Kamek took Luigi, and you fell," he explained. "Luckily, a Yoshi was able to protect you as he went off to save your brother. While you two were safely returned home, they learned of what happened, and starting moving."

"Perche hanno fat- why did they do it? Why did Kamek try to kidnap us?"

"Not entirely sure, but that wasn't the last attempt at an attack," he answered. "The only thing we could assume was either Kamek was trying to prevent you two following in your mother's footsteps, or predicted something else. This is why your parents never told you about this, they didn't want you to get involved. But I suppose fate has a strange way of working."

"That's one way to put it," he slumped back in the loveseat.

"I know this is a lot to take in," he rested his hand on his shoulder. "And while my daughter would like to have you stay, you don't have to. I would not want to disrespect the wishes of my old friends." Mario wiped off the dust on the portrait. It had been faded with time.

"I'll think about it," he got up, nose still buried within the book. "Until then, I'm going to bed."

"It's three pm."

"Do you blame me?"

The king realized what he just said, "no."

Mario went off to his bedroom. He peeked out the curtains to see a few toads gardening, and some children playing jacks. He spotted more toads wandering the streets, laughing and talking. Though, some reporters and other toads showed concerned over the gaping hole in the side of the castle now.

Mario slumped into the bed and threw a pillow over his head. He tossed and turned, and shut his eyes and tried to think of nothing. It didn't work, and threw the pillow at the end of the bed. He hugged his knees and looked around, spotting an old phone on the nightstand next to him.

Mario dialed his home apartment, as the phone rang with no answer. He rehearsed what he was going to say to Pauline and Luigi, but it went to the tone again. Then again. And again.

Feeling the leather bound book, he decided to ring up a different number. This one actually picked up.

"Hello?" Said a disheartened voice.

"Mama? It's Mario." There was silence for a minute. Then a lot of yelling.

"WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN? I'VE BEEN TRYING TO CALL YOU AND LUIGI ALL DAY! I JUST SAW THAT STUNT YOU DID IN NEW DONK- WHAT WERE YOU THINKING? WHY IS THIS NUMBER FROM THE CASTLE? I WAS WORRIED SICK, WHY DIDN'T YOU ANSWER?" Mario pulled the phone away as far he could and still heard every word.

"...Alright, so how was your day?" Mario replied with nothing but nonchalance.

"Shut up, I'm just glad you're okay." His mother chuckled through tears.

"Anch'io ti amo." He replied in a chipper tone. "And, I am really okay. Wait, what happened with Donkey Kong was a few days ago, you're just getting it now?"

"Well, I guess an amazing feat that happens in a different country isn't as important to know over here," she gritted her teeth. "But why didn't you call me?"

"Probably the same reason you're not telling me how you knew I was in the castle."

"Um… Well, uh, while we lived in Mushroom Kingdom, I accidentally got a call from the castle, and I guess I recognized it." She said.

"Okay, second question: Why are you lying to me?"

"Mario! Are you implying I would lie?"

"No, I'm outright stating you would lie." He grabbed the portrait on the comforter. "Mostly because I'm looking at this photograph of you and papa standing right next to the royals. And the King saying you were his head of guard."

"Uuuhh… Okay, I was lying." She bite her lip.

"No! Really?" His voice pitched.

"Okay, enough of that," her voice sharpened. "You wanna explain what happened in New Donk? Or being at the royals?" Mario explained how everything went. "Peach, what the heck," she was dumbfounded. "So, are you staying?"

"That's why I'm calling," he wrapped himself in the blanket. "What do you think I should do?"

"As your mother? Get outta there as soon as possible," she replied sharply. "But as a guard," her voice softened, "and a friend to the royals? Bowser is a very real threat, and needs to go down."

"That's not very helpful," he winced at Bowser's name being said.

"This isn't my decision to make, sweetie," phone static was the only thing heard for a long while. "Honey, it's going to be alright."

"I'm okay," he tried to reassure.

"Mario, you're like me. I know you're not." She said bluntly. Mario wiped off the dust on the portrait. He flipped open the book to the picture of him and Luigi being held up by their parents.

"I'll talk to you later, mama. Ti voglio bene," he said.

"Ti voglio bene anch'io," she answered. "Oh, while you're there, tell old Rafferty and Meribelle we're still kicking. And I haven't forgotten he still owes me twenty bucks."

"Will do," he hung up, and flopped onto the pillows. He turned over, face first into the mattress. He was about to turn out the lights again when a knock at the door occured.

"Hey," Peach entered, with a tray of food.

"Ciao," he responded, picking himself back up. She sat next to him on the bed.

"You didn't come down for dinner, so I thought I'd bring it." She laid the tray in front of him.

"Thank you." He answered. He grabbed a fork and took a bite from the spaghetti.

"Can we talk for a bit?" She asked. "My father filled me in. I realize that this may all be overwhelming."

"A little, admittedly," he stared down at his plate.

"Look," she messed around with her hair. "I… I need you here. I can't keep doing this, I don't know how much longer I can take it." She hunched over and held her arms. "What you just experience has been my life for the last couple months. I do need you here." She clutched her brooch.

Mario continued to eat his food, and didn't reach her gaze. Peach folded her hands in her lap, looking around the room.

"So, what do you like to do for fun?" He asked out of nowhere.

"What?" Her voice cracked.

"Well, we are going to spend a lot of time together," he reasoned. "Might as well get to know each other." A wash of relief came over her, and she smiled.

"Um," she murmured, "okay. I guess I enjoy gardening when it's nice out."

"Oh neat," he replied sincerely. "What's your favorite thing to grow?"

"I love the roses but the thorns always mess me up. The toads won't even touch them, they think I'm so brave" she gave out a small giggle. She quickly repositioned herself in a poise manner, "but that's not important. Most guards don't care about that stuff."

"I'm not a guard," he answered. "I'm a plumber. And while I'm here, I want to be your friend. And as your friend, what you enjoy is important to me."

"I don't think that's the best idea, but if you insist," she rested her cheek in her hand. "what do you like to do?

"Recently I was playing a new video game with my brother that's about boxing," he shrugged. He moved the finish plate onto the nightstand.

"I've never actually played a video game before," she said. "Never had the time."

"How have you lived," he asked in a dead panned manner.

"No idea," she shook her head.

"I should show you Manic Knight," he sat straight up. "That was the first game I got, and it was a lot of fun."

"What's it about?"

"Okay, before I continue I must warn you," he raised a hand, "I will literally gush about this for the next couple hours."

"Pfft, only a couple hours?" She scoffed, "you should see me ramble about this book, Vera's Amulet. I once bored my servants for days." Mario laughed. "Oh, you think I'm joking? Toadsery, come in here."

A blue toad walked in, "yes, your highness?"

"When I say Vera's Amulet, what comes to mind?"

The toad jumped and started apologizing, "I didn't do it! It was all Toadia's idea, we didn't mean to break it!"

"You're not in trouble, I was just proving a point," she waved her hand. "Wait, what broke?"

"Nothing!" He already disappeared into the hallway. Mario was trying to hide his laugh.

"You know, that's no different than how my friends act when I prattle on too," he said. "Tell you what, I'll read Vera's Amulet, and you'll play Manic Knight, and we can bore everyone to death together!"

"Deal!" She had a big grin. It disappeared as quick and she got up. "Right, so I'll see you tomorrow. Sweet dreams."

"Um okay," he looked baffled. "You too." She left the room, and he turned off the lights. He thought about playing Manic Knight with his brother just yesterday. 'Yesterday,' he thought. 'Feels like an eternity already.'

He laid back and looked at the ceiling, the fan slowly turning. He looked around the pristine, freshly cleaned room that reeked of disinfectant and an overly strong lemon smell. 'Luigi would be ecstatic if my room was this clean. And Pauline would like the change of pace from the banana bread smell from the baker next door every morning.'

He shifted over to the night stand again and dialed his home phone. When they didn't pick up again, he called Pauline's work and was sent to her boss. "Hey, is Pauline Brescia there? It's Mario, I need to talk to her."

"Nope. Called in this morning," her boss said.

"Okay, thank you," he hung up and dialed another number. "Hey Joy, it's Mario did Luigi come in today?"

"No, he didn't," she answered. "He called you both in, you feeling alright?"

"I'll be fine, thank you Joy," he hung up the phone. 'Dove sono andati? (Where did they go?)' He whimpered as he fell back into the covers.

Meanwhile, in a few kingdoms over, Kamek was entering a large dark room. At the end was a looming shadow, legs crossed with piercing red eyes.

"Your awfulness," he flew up. "Mario has returned, he's at the castle right now. What should we do?" Fire emerged through a low growl, and he stood up, the floor shook with his step.

"You know exactly what to do," the candles on the walls shaking as he walked. "Invasion. First thing tomorrow. Now get to it." He slammed the door on his way out.

'Maybe they're still in New Donk,' he tried to reassure himself. 'At least they'll be safe there.'

Unknowingly, Pauline and Luigi had just gotten off a flight to Mushroom Kingdom, and were staying the night at a motel.

"Remember," Pauline said as she flopped in her bed. "First thing tomorrow morning, we're going down to that castle, finding the nearest blunt object we can, bash open a window and run out with Mario." She slammed her fist into her palm, "and maybe some other things we could bash."

"No Pauline," Luigi said in a manner that sounded like that was the twentieth time today. "It's better we don't cause a scene either. We'll sneak in the back window and take him out that way. We talked about this."

"I know," she threw her hands in the air. "Let me dream," she crashed back down and crossed her arms. Luigi's expression softened, and he tugged down his cap.

"Hey," Luigi called over to her from his bed. "Mario sarà tutto bene. (Mario will be alright.)" She looked at him with tired eyes, and flipped on the TV.

"Another attack at Mushroom Castle today," said the news anchor, the two stunned silent. "Third one this week, with what seems to be a final threat from the Koopa King. No word on this destruction from the royals, but few citizens have caught glimpses of the Princess, badly injured. Alongside some of these accounts were descriptions of a short mustachioed man next to her in similar condition." Blurry pictures of the two bruised and battered were shown on screen.

"Speculation it is the same man from New Donk City's Donkey Kong incident, though no official word," the news anchor continued. "Threats of invasion loomed from Kamek as he retreated."

"Oh le mie stelle," Pauline moved her palm over her mouth. "Luigi, che-" she looked over to tears rolling down his face.

"Spegnilo," he buried his head in his hands. He started taking rapid breaths and he stared at the ceiling. Pauline obliged and turned off the TV. She moved over to his bed and wrapped her arms around him. She rocked him back and forth, not saying anything.

She looked around the room, scrunching up her face and grinding her teeth. Many times she looked like she was about to say something, only for nothing to come out. The fire spitting had vanish within seconds. She shook her head slowly and lowered her head atop Luigi's, as tears rolled down too.


	3. Doki! Doki! PANIC!

Doki! Doki! PANIC!

The next morning, Pauline and Luigi checked out of the motel and got directions to town square.

"Okay," Pauline said adjusting her hair in a ponytail. "So, since a lot of the attention will be at the hole in the wall, we'll go in the opposite end. They're still might be reporters and newscasters there. Better play it safe."

"Pauline, I have a bad feeling about this," Luigi grimaced. "There's like, um what's the word? Seilmila- right, six thousand ways this can go wrong."

"Well, do you have any alternatives?" She kept running her fingers through her hair, "this is the best we got." They continued walking down the street, towering over everyone and sticking out like a sore thumb.

"We get thrown in prison, I'm blaming you," he finally answered.

"Understood," she replied, deadpan.

Mario found himself surrounded by fire again, but instead of the projection of Bowser it was instead a large army of koopas, goombas, hammer bros and magikoopas surrounding him. They all grew in size larger than him, where he was but a speck in scale. A koopa walked up to him, and was about to stomp his foot onto him.

"Master Mario?" A voice from a toad woke him up, "breakfast is ready. You okay?"

"Yeah, yeah, fine!" He answered in a rushed manner, and leaped out of bed. Mario showed up to breakfast, with all the royals chit chatting. "Morning everybody!"

"Morning! You seem to be in a better mood," Peach remarked.

"Tends to happen when you actually have sleep, and not on the brink of death," he tried to forget the dream behind a cheery smile.

"Hey, who were you on the phone with anyway?" She took a bite of her pancake.

"My mama," he crunched down onto an apple. "That reminds me, King Rafferty, she says 'hi' and you still owe her twenty bucks." King Rafferty buried his face in his hands and laughed.

"She's never gonna let that go, is she?" Rafferty laid his head on his palm.

"It's Willow, dear," Meribelle cut up her pancake. "Her holding twenty bucks over your head for beating you at Whack A Mole one time, will follow her to her grave."

"Does your mom actually do that?" Peach asked.

"No. She wouldn't stop at her grave. She'd haunt you while you're alive, and bug you in death," Mario took a sip of orange juice. The King,

Queen and Toadsworth laughed.

"Oh Stars," Toadsworth said. "I miss them dearly."

"Me too," Mario finished up his breakfast.

"Oh, Mario!" Peach called. "I have something I need to give you," she said, pulling out some jewelry. It was the same brooch and earrings she was wearing. "Keep these on your person at all times," she handed them to him. She brought her brooch closer to her mouth and spoke in it, and could be heard on the other set of earrings. "If we need to talk, we can use this, no matter how far apart we are."

"Okie dokie!" He put the jewelry away in his pockets.

"Alright," Peach got up from her seat. "Now come on, I need to show you some one other thing." Mario got out of his seat and followed after, where he was lead to the outside. There, she showed him, hidden behind some bushes, an underground room under construction. "This is our bunker, it's not finished yet, but it'll do in a pinch."

They stepped back outside, Peach picking some fire flowers from the bushes and putting them away in a sack. "Some more power ups and supplies, if need be." She handed them a sack, and they headed back to the castle. "Oh, I forgot something in my room, one second."

Peach headed for the stairs, and Mario got some more coffee. He started walking through the main hall, when he heard some murmuring behind a window. It popped open as Pauline and Luigi were arguing with each other as they try to squeeze through the window.

"Guys," Mario took a sip of coffee, Pauline and Luigi crashing to the floor. "What are you doing?"

"Mario!" Screamed Pauline.

"Fratello!" Luigi rushed over and hugged him, Pauline following suite. "Siamo così contenti che tu sia tutto bene!"

"Sono contento di vedervi anche ragazzi," Mario hugged them back. "But why are you here?" He pulled away.

"To rescue you," Pauline put her hands together.

"Rescue me?"

"Yeah," Luigi put his hand on his shoulder. "We saw the note Peach left, and had to come down to bring you back."

"I geniunely can't believe she kidnapped you," Pauline crossed her arms.

"Wait, guys, I'm-" he tried to object.

"Come on, we gotta go before someone sees us," Pauline grabbed his hand, him dropping his coffee. Mario quickly let go and took a step back.

"Guys, I'm- I'm not going with you."

"What?" Luigi asked, heartbroken. "Why?"

"It's kind of a long story," he shrugged. "Look, just go home, I'll be fine." He tried pushing them along, the two objecting. Then Peach walked in.

"Mario, I need you to- Oh," she saw the three in an argument stop dead. "Um..." She inspected the two, none of them saying anything. "Oh, I'm assuming you two are Luigi and Pauline?" She pointed at them.

"Yes, they are," Mario spoke up.

"Well, nice to meet you both," she bit her nails.

"Yeaaah," Pauline raised an eyebrow. "The feeling isn't mutual."

"Pauline," Luigi whispered, tugging on her dress.

"Your majesty, can I please talk to them for a minute?" Mario asked, "Alone?"

"Of course," she straightened up. "Just one thing: Security cameras are everywhere." She waltz out of the room, Pauline grunted and grabbed the coffee mug.

"Mario, you know where the cameras are?"

"You are not breaking the cameras with a mug, Pauline," Mario said.

"What am I suppose to use then?" She shrugged.

"I still have the walkie talkies and a rench on me," Luigi took them from his pockets.

She grabbed the rench and a walkie talkie. "What? No hammer?"

"Forgot it," he shrugged.

"We are not breaking government property!" Mario told them off, "look. I decided to stay okay? They need my help."

"Mario, you can't do this!" Pauline waved her arms, accidentally throwing the mug across the room into a vase.

"What did I just say?" Mario deadpanned.

"Bro," Luigi grabbed onto his arm. "This is incredibly dangerous! You can get seriously hurt, we can't let you do this!" He grabbed onto both his shoulders and shook his head. Mario pushed away.

"Yes, it is dangerous," Mario's eyes darted back and forth. "That's why you two need to go home. I'll," he looked back at them, nothing but worry was shown. He drew in a deep breath, "I'll take care of this myself. You two don't need to get involved."

"Mario!" Luigi's voice cracked, Pauline combed through her hair with her fingers.

"You don't need to get involved either you know," Pauline stomped.

"Yes I do, now go!" He pointed to the door, raising his voice. Then, screams and destruction could be heard from the outside.

"Che cos 'era questo?" Luigi words tumbled out. Mario grabbed Pauline and Luigi and ran off towards the backyard. Peach met them there, as Mario searches around the yard.

"Toadstool, where's the bunker?" Mario frantically gestured.

"Behind the bushes over there," she scurried over and helped lift up the door.

"Okay, everyone get inside," Mario rushed them over. Pauline grabbed his hand and tried bringing him down too. He wouldn't budge and let go of her. She tripped into Peach, and swiftly turned to her.

"What have you done?" Pauline screamed, "why did you do this? What made you think this was okay?"

"Pauline, now is not the time," Mario intervened. Luigi looked over to the sky, and seeing an armada of flying ships loom over. "You're in serious danger, you need to go!"

"We wouldn't be in this mess if it wasn't for her to begin with!" She flicked her hand towards her.

"Oh, yeah, sure," Peach raised her arms. "I completely asked for this to happen!" She pointed towards the chaos reigning, with Toads being turned to stone.

"Maybe if you weren't such a terrible ruler-"

"Excuse me?" Peach said indignantly.

"And maybe if you didn't kidnap people, things would've gone a lot better!" Pauline yelled straight to her face, getting much closer.

"I didn't kidnap anyone!" Peach clenched her fists, and the argument only escalated. The brothers didn't know how to react, until an explosion got them flying into the bunker. It sealed close above them and got stuck.

The brothers pounded on the door, and the girls on the other side did as well. All that could be heard was some more screams and rumbles. It went on for a long while, until not a single thing could be heard from outside. The brothers continously slammed into the door, and eventually it flung open.

The once flourishing garden was torched, stones chipped and statues destroyed. The castle was in disrepair, with the Toad guards being turned to stone. Pauline and Peach were nowhere to be seen, with no trace on where they could've gone. Mario dashed into the castle, Luigi following after him.

"King? Queen? Toadworth, what do I-" Mario ran into the foyer to see them frozen in place, encased in solid rock. They examined the three, Mario taking quick sharp breaths, and Luigi pushed his hand over his mouth. A cannon shot was heard from the distance, Mario running to the door to see the last air ship far away.

Without a second thought, he leaped over the crumbling stairs and chased after it. "Mario!" Luigi stumbled across the town square, tripping over statued Toads. He staggered backwards from all the ruins, and picked himself back up. He bolted after his brother, who had now leaped bounds ahead of him.

They ran to the outer fields, and Mario tried climbing up some vines on a cliff. When he did so, Luigi caught up and grabbed onto him, both falling to the ground. Mario tried wrestling out of his grip, but he just kept fighting back. "Mario, stop!" He pushed him back, both breathing heavily.

"Sei pazza? (Are you crazy?)" He yelled. " Avete un desiderio di morte? (Do you have a death wish?)"

"Luigi, so cosa sto facendo. (Luigi, I know what I am doing.)" He pushed onwards and Luigi kept yelling out to him.

"What makes you think you can even do this?" He yelled.

"Because if our mama could do it, so can I!"

"What."

Mario sighed and climbed down the vines, "it's-a long story." He sat down Luigi and began explaining the whole thing.

Meanwhile, Pauline was thrashing around in a bag until she rolled out of it. She was put in a room with similar tall, human women. She surveyed the room, it was large, dark and dim, and uncomfortably hot. Few bunk beds were spread apart, as other women got out of their bags. Pauline peeked out a small gated window to see pools of lava surrounding the building, and metallic platforms.

"Where are we?" Said a woman with bobby pins in her hair.

"Fay, I think we're in- Bowser's castle!" Replied another woman with a pink sweatband.

There was silence for a minute, then frantic and confused screams. The yells and dismay crowded the room, with Pauline having to cover her ears. A woman in the corner was hugging a golf club she had, another a pizza pan. Pauline stomped across the room and took the pan and golf club, then heading for the center bunk bed.

She climbed to the top and started bashing the two objects together, "attention women! We! Are! Not! Gonna! Die!" Bashing the objects together in between every word for emphasis. The room quiet downed and turned their attention to her.

"Okay, before we continue: Any questions?"

"Can we have our stuff back?" Said the pizza pan woman, notably wearing a white fur coat with hat and goggles.

"Yeah, that was expensive," said the former redheaded woman in a blue mini dress.

"Oh, yeah, sorry," she bashfully handed them their items. "Probably didn't need the dramatics. Anyway!" She clapped her hands together. "As someone who was already kidnapped by a giant animal this week, I think we'll be fine. The important thing, however, is to stay calm and think of a solution."

"First thing's first: We need to figure a way outta here." She scanned the room and saw a grate high above on a wall. "There! We can just use that vent!" She started pushing the beds over, with the others helping.

"How we gonna get it open though?" Asked one girl in a visor. Pauline twirled out her rench and took out the bolts. She stuck her foot into the vent, for it to be very clear that she was too big for it. The women groaned from below.

Pauline tried figuring out what to do next, when some commontion was heard through the vent. "I'm just saying, I don't think the pay is worth it." It was a feminine sounding voice, completely fed up with the world. "Boss, I know I- Yeah, but- Okay, you don't have to yell." They sighed, "look, I'll do the show alright? Goodbye."

They let out an exasperate moan and sank next to the vent. "Hey," Pauline called out. "You alright?" They looked around and crouched down to look through the vent. "Oh my Stars, are you Birdo?!"

"Uh, yes I am," they answered, rather surprised. "You know me?"

"Heck yeah! I love your jazzy tunes!" She gushed, "Shy Guy Blues is my favorite!" Birdo's eyes lit up.

"No one ever remembers that one!" They jumped a little, "I'm so glad you like it!"

"Oh, it is so underappreciated. Yeah, I like Sun's Fury too, but the others on the album are just as-"

"What the heck are you doing?" Yelled goggles woman.

"Sorry, kinda lost my train of thought," she yelled down.

"What's going on?" Birdo tried to peek through the grate.

"Bowser was trying to kidnap Peach, and I guess his lackeys got us by mistake."

"Wait," said Birdo. "He kidnapped Peach? Not just them getting married with- You know?- Permission?"

"Nope," she shook her head.

"I am so firing my agent," Birdo buried their snout into their hands. "Okay, so- You on the floor below me?"

"Presumably, we stacked like three bunk beds for this." Pauline shrugged.

"Okay, one sec!" Birdo waddled out of the room as fast as they could. In a little bit the door opened, with Birdo swinging the key around on a chain. "Exit door down the hall, to your left, now GO!" They moved away as the herd of women rushed out.

"Thank you Birdo!" Pauline knelt down to her.

"No problem," they shake hands. "I'm gonna punch my agent in the throat later!" They walked down to follow the other girls, with the door wide open. About to head out when a voice called out to them.

"Birdo!" They turned around to see Kamek looming over them. "What are you doing?"

"Um..."

"Show stage is over there, silly," he pointed to another hallway. He inspected Pauline from head to toe, "who's she?"

"Um, she is myyy- Back up singer!" Birdo answered.

"Oh," he inspected Birdo from head to toe. "Well, make sure you don't get outclassed." He flew up, Birdo with hands on their hips and Pauline crossing her arms. "Thwomps, look after these two, will ya?" Two Thwomps came from behind them and pushed them down the hall.

"And that's why I don't think we can just leave," Mario explained to his brother.

"Okay, let me see if I got this straight," Luigi sighed. "Bowser has a hit on us." Mario tapped his fingers on the ground.

"I mean, that's one way to put-"

"Mario, we can't do this!" Luigi started taking quick breathes.

Mario put his hand on his back, "look, I know this is scary but-"

"Mario, non possiamo- Oh mia stelle!" Luigi pulled his cap over eyes as they welled up. Mario hugged him.

"You don't have to do this if you don't want to," he said.

"Neither do you!" Luigi's voice pitched. "Mario, please, please, I beg of you." He hugged him back, "can we please just find Pauline and go home?"

"I- I need to… I don't know, Luigi," he pulled back.

"Wait," said a booming voice a little ways in fron of them. "Mario and Luigi? Got a dad named Antonio diSegale?" The voice came from a chubby, old Skipsqueak.

"Um. Yeah?" Mario answered.

"Haha! And married to Willow No-Name cuz she's too lazy?" He chuckled.

"You know them," Luigi asked.

"Course I do!" He extended his hand to them, "name's Almond Squeeks, old friend of Andy!" The two shook his hand, "I take it he hasn't mentioned us too often?"

"Sorry, no," said Mario.

"Ah, that's alright," he smiled. "None the less, you two thirsty? I got a little resturant jus' round' the corner, come on." He led them to a resturant hidden away in a burrow, called "The Pack Rats." It was filled with other mice like creatures, with even some toads and goombas mixed in.

Almond brought him to the bar, and gave them some ice cream floats. "Thank you," Luigi sipped from his straw. "So, how did you know our papa anyway?"

"Aye, your dad was the smartest guy I knew!" Almond washed a cup, "he helped me out of so many jams, I wouldn't know where to start. Man was always scribbling away on some calculation or figuring out agriculture structures for the Chai kingdom. Was an absolute genius, he was!"

"Honey, you're only saying that because you can't put two and two together," his wife laid her head on her shoulder.

"It's obviously twenty two, how many times do we need to have this conversation?" His wife chuckled, and filled out another drink.

"Heh, Luigi I guess that's where you got that from!" Mario nudged his brother.

"Amazing that he got it," said the wife, directing her attention to Mario. "You're a dead ringer for your pops. Oh, but you do have your mother's eyes." She rested her hand on her chest.

"So," Almond gave them some refills. "Whatcha doing out here anyway?" Mario and Luigi shared a look.

"Well, Princess Toadstool took Mario to be her guard and-"

"Oh! You're following your mother's footsteps?" The wife spoke up.

"Well, um-" Mario began.

"No," Luigi finished. "We are not. We are going home," Luigi's eyes narrowed at Mario.

"You're not gonna rescue Princess Toadstool?" Almond looked befuddled. Before they could answer, a noise admitted from Luigi's pocket. He pulled out the walkie talkie and Pauline could be heard.

"Ragazzi? Ragazzi!" She cried.

"Pauline? Where did you go?" Mario wrenched the walkie talkie away.

"To the mall, where did you think I went?" She screamed, "I got kidnapped in the confusion! I'm at Bowser's castle!"

"What," Mario said in stunned shock.

"It's a long story, but I don't think I'll be able to get out! Guys, hurry, I think the battery's about to-" she faded into static.

"We have to go save her!" Mario yelled without a second's thought.

"You guys are gonna rescue Princess Peach?" Said a toad from behind them. They were smaller than many other toads, clearly being a child.

"Well, kid," Mario fidgted with his gloves.

"That's great!" They exclaimed, "our parents got turned to stone! Only Peach's wish magic can turn them back!" They turned back to the other kids, "hey guys! They're gonna save the Princess!"

"Wait, no, you don't understand," Luigi waved his hands. Mario stayed silent for the endeavor.

"You're gonna take down Bowser, right?" Said a goomba, "those goombas give the rest of us a bad name!"

"And our homes can be rebuilt?" Asked another kid toad. "We don't have anywhere else to go!"

"They came rushing out of the kingdom," spoke up Almond. "We wanted to protect them, so we're letting them stay here until something changes."

"Guys, look-" Luigi tried to speak. A little girl in pigtails came up and hugged his leg.

"My mama and papa are gonna be okay, right?" She looked up to him with doe eyes. Luigi looked all around him filled with small children and broken families. Mario gave him a questioning look, and waiting for his response.

"Yes," Luigi broke. "They'll be fine. Of course we'll save her and your kingdom." The crowd broke into a cheer and Mario hugged him.

"That's my bro," he exclaimed. Almond packed them some materials and food, and they headed out until they were on the brink of not seeing the Kingdom's castle again.

"You ready?" Mario asked.

"No."

"Me neither, but let's-a go!" They charged into the fields full of goombas, koopas and block, with a large castle in the distance. The brothers immediately ran into Goombas and Koopas waiting for them. They hid behind a bush as they just wandered around, some of the koopas just chit chatting with the others.

"What do we do?" Luigi grabbed onto Mario's shoulder.

"Not entirely sure," he answered.

"Well, what did you do last time?"

Mario thought back to being slammed against the cieling and the Bowser projection looming over him. "Uh, don't recall," he spurted out. "It was all a blur and went by so quickly. But um, there seems to be less here, so maybe it won't be as bad." He rubbed his chin, "uh, let's just find out."

He walked out of the bushes, Luigi falling trying to grab him. The goombas and koopas turned their gaze to them and dropped everything they were doing. They just stared at each other for an awkward amount of time.

"Hi," Mario raised his hand to them. Then they ran after the two, Mario's first impulse to kick. It worked, much to his surprise. Luigi jumped out of fear, and landed on a Koopa, whose body shot out of their shell. Luigi picked up the shell and threw it at them, knocking them to the ground.

A goomba got to his feet and jumped up to a levitating block, and a 1-Up Mushroom popped out. His bruises and injuries faded, and he charged at them once again. Mario just swiped at him and he went flying. The ground was scattered with injured enemies ahead of them.

Luigi popped his head out of the bush where he was hiding, "did we win?"

"I think so," Mario went over to the other blocks. He punched them, but they just broke instead of giving him anything. "Well, that was surprisingly easy."

"Oh, you thought that was easy?" A goomba scattered to his feet, "just you wait! There's eight more worlds you have to go through, full of us! And it only gets harder, with no shortcuts!" He bit down on his shoe and growled. Mario kicked him away.

"Eight more worlds?" Luigi remarked, "that's going to take forever! We don't have that kind of time." He leaned in and whispered, "Inoltre, non voglio che questo sia più difficile di quello che deve. (Also, I don't want this to be any harder than it has to.)"

"Luigi, I think they're lying," Mario answered.

"That's irrelevant!" Yelled the goomba.

"David!" screamed a koopa.

"What? Oh wait..."

"So what are the shortcuts," Mario asked.

"Like we would tell you that there through that pipe over there leads directly to the castle of this world!"

"David, you are so fired," the koopa gave up.

"Thanks," Mario said, as they headed into the pipe, "see ya!" He waved as they went down the pipe into a cave with coins spread across.

"Wait a minute, that pipe doesn't lead there," the koopa picked himself up. "Doesn't it lead to the-"

"Yep! It does," the goomba grinned. "Those two losers won't last one night with them."

"Huh. That was actually a great idea I had."

"What?" Yelled the goomba.

"Look, I need a raise, that stuff is promotion material," the koopa shrugged.

"You need a- I need a raise! Have you seen these booties?"

"Guys, guys," said another koopa, waving his hands down. "None of us are getting a raise."

The brothers picked up some coins and headed out another pipe, where some more goombas were walking about. They took them out with ease and got to a flag pole with a skull flag flying. Luigi flutter jumped and yanked the flag off, and went into the castle. The sun was setting, and they settled in for the night.

"That was easier than expected," Mario said as he tucked himself into a sack.

"You think this just might be the calm before the storm," Luigi asked.

"No, now get some rest," he laid the side of his head on his arm.

"How can you be so sure?"

"Luigi, just breath, it's gonna be alright," he was half asleep. "If you're still antsy, go take a walk or something. Just don't think about it."

"Ma cosa succede se-" (But what if it does?)

"Luigi, va a letto. Prometto che non succederà nulla (Luigi, go to bed. I promise nothing will happen)," Mario slumped over and fell asleep. Luigi heard every creak and bump in the night as he tried to rest. He heard a high pitched cackle, and jumped up.

"Mario," he whipsered over to him, still fast asleep. He tiptoed around the abandoned castle, and went up a flight of stairs. It was a decrepit old room, with a large cracked mirror being in the center. The rest of the room had boxes and bricks laying astrew. He stumbled around the room, hearing the cackle again until he faced the mirror.

At first it was just his usual reflection, but then it shifted to a white blob with sharp fangs and the cackle came again. The creature bursted out of the mirror and sent him into a panic. He flew into a crate of boxes, where it disintergrated into more of the creatures. They started taking a better form and loomed over him.

"Boo!" Yelled the biggest one in the middle, Luigi scattered for the door. When he got to it, it disappeared and formed more Boos from it. "Hehe, apple doesn't fall far from the tree, eh? Your old man was just as much as a spineless wuss!"

"I fantasmi non sono spaventosi?" He jumbled around, looking for the door he entered through.

"Oh look! He speaking the same scaredy jibberish as his dad did! Cute," he had a condescending drawl to his speech. "Grab 'em!" They lunged at Luigi, who was still yelling.

Mario found himself surrounded by flames once more, feeling like it was choking him. He was surrounded by koopas and goombas again, this time larger than him. He got kicked around and a koopa grabbed him and dangled him off a cliff.

He shifted around on his claws, and was able to get on the back of his hand. He threw himself at the giants, and as they tumbled away, the creatures became smaller. He kicked them around and threw them out of his way. For the first time, he fealt genuinely confident in his abilities.

Then he heard his brother cry out from behind him. He was trapped in Bowser's hand, as he set more kingdoms on fire. He pinched Luigi's by his head and extended his arm in front of him. He took in a large breath and was about to burn him to a crisp.

"Mario!" Luigi cries woke up Maro. "Aiutami!" He realized his brother was in trouble and scurried up the stairs to his voice. He barged in where the Boos had taken Luigi out of a window and swinging him around. "Fratello!"

"Oh," the big Boo floated over. "I'm assuming this is the stupid one to the coward?" He pused Mario to the floor, and when he tried to punch him back he disappeared. "Yep!" He pushed him again from the back, "trying to punch a Boo, how stupid can ya get?"

"Let my brother go, or I'll-" he shook his fists.

"Or what?" He ranked Mario up by the collar, "let me take a guess on what ya did here. You, rushed into this, thinking you could be this grand ol hero." He flung him around, "because your mama did it, and everyone loves your parents? Well, I have one way that they are full of baloney." He pinned Mario to a wall, him getting visibly sick.

"They never saw what your parents were really like. I did," he bared his fangs in a wide grin and brought Mario outside with the others.


	4. When the Dark Clouds Start to Swirl

"Always talks of their glories and how great they were, but your father weak and your mother a reckless loon," taunted the Big Boo. They floated high above the tree tops with Luigi fidgeting around from looking down.

"Oh sure, they've dealt with Bowser's father before, but they never dealt with Bowser himself," he yanked Mario up and lifted him by the neck. "Did you seriously think you could ever defeat Bowser? You can't even take out a few Boos."

"Not even that, even when he went easy on her, she only survived by a hair," snarked another Boo.

"What would you know about my mama and papa?" Mario kicked and flailed. "Just because you lost to them dozens of times, doesn't mean you have to be petty with us!" The Boos just looked at him for a moment, then burst out laughing.

"Oh ho, they really scrubbed that history clean, didn't they?" Chuckled the Big Boo.

"Yeah, wanna know what your mama did before working at Mushroom Kingdom?" Said one Boo in a mocking voice.

"Will you just get to the point already, you carny ghosts?" Mario snarked.

"Fine. Your mama worked, and was friends with Bowser's father. His right hand man, at that," Big Boo taunted. Mario just raised an eyebrow.  
"Of all the lies you could've gone with, that's what you use?" Mario said flatly, obviously very tired.

"It's not a lie, this actually happened!" The Big Boo argued.

"Yeah, and how you gonna prove that to me?" Mario crossed his arms.

"Yeah boss, did we think this through at all?" Said a smaller Boo following them.

"Yes we did, TaBoo!" Big Boo yelled, "spew stuff like that again, light's gonna shine on ya."

During his fidgeting, Luigi noticed the fire flower sticking from out of his pocket. He crushed it in his hand, and his clothes turned white. He looked down at the trees and noticed brown striped leaves covered them.

"We'll show you right now. ShamBoo, projection please?"

Another Boo started swirling together lights and colors in front of them. It started showing a projection of a young woman wandering the plains with a gray, large koopa in front of her.

"Now remember, we go in there and stomp out those mousers!" Growled the koopa.

"Aye aye sir! I call the Tanooki leaves when we ransack this place," she put her arms behind her back. Luigi muttered under his breath "tanooki leaves?"

"How do we even know if that's our mother?" Mario still argued.

"And remember, what did I teach you?" The Koopa asked.

"Aim for the throat!" She replied with glee.

"Oh shoot, that is her," Mario resigned.

"Mousers are tiny, why aim for the throat?" ShamBoo asked.

"Does Willow seem like a smart person to you?" Said Big Boo.

"Didn't she get that idea from your boss," Mario asked.

"My point still stands, your mom sucked!" Big Boo yelled in iritation. "And now we'll learn how close the apple falls from the tree, when we take you to Bowser."

Big Boo was still taunting Mario, but Luigi was able to grab onto his overalls. He lit his other hand on fire and the Boos hid away from it, letting go of both the brothers, and Luigi brought Mario closer to him.

They fell into the trees, for once Mario is the one yelling while Luigi stays calm. He held onto Mario tightly as he could, as they plummeted with Luigi clawing at the tree leaves. Mario covered his eyes before they met the ground, and when he uncovered them, they were floating inches above it. He looked up and saw Luigi with brown ears and a tail wagging, and they dropped to the ground.

"Luigi, that was brilliant," he hugged him. "How did you know that would work?"

"You say the herb classes in college were useless, I say mama was going after Tanooki leaves, and Tanooki trees are known for their power ups that can make you float," he smirked. The cackles were heard from a distance and the two dashed further into the woods.

They eventually were greeted once again by the Boos. This time, lights were shown on them, and one got punched from behind. They all fled and evaporated, only leaving a figure up in the trees doing it.

"Lousy, good for nothings-" she noticed the two in the moonlight. "Oh, hi! I'm-" she fell out of the tree and landed face first in front of them. "Daisy," she muttered out in pain. She launched back up and pointed to the side of the brothers, "who are you?"

Luigi repositioned her in front of him, and she latched onto him regaining her balance. "Um, I'm Luigi and this is my brother, Mario." She grabbed his hand and shook violently.

"Nice to meet ya," she yelled. "Whatcha doing in the middle of the woods for?"

"Well, we were trying to find- wait, are you Princess Daisy?" He asked.

"In the flesh!" she stood triumphantly. "And I'm out here because of those baddies stole my best friend!"

"So are we!" Mario rushed towards her, "we're out to save Princess Toadstool."

"You guys are? Sweet!" She exclaimed and grabbed their hands, "come on! I know a place where you can sleep tonight!" And she led them out of the forest to a small hut.

It was two am when Pauline woke up to the sound of yelling and noise. Birdo's personal room had a bed and a couch, to which Pauline slept on the latter.

"Ugh, can't I get some beauty rest here?" Birdo removed their sleeping mask from the construction.

"Doesn't seem like it," Pauline stretched and climbed out of the couch. "Take your bets, stage hands being loud or some doom bot being made."

"My money's on both," Birdo sighed. "Stars, this is my life now, being trapped for a King that can't take a hint."

"Trust me, this entire experience hasn't been good on my end either." They started putting on make up infront of a vanity. "Man, I just wanted to help my friends. But noooooooo, had to go save this wreck of a leader."

"Can't really blame ya for getting angry," Birdo spurted on some perfume. "But maybe you can help them."

"What do you mean?" Pauline asked.

"I saw some clown cars around this place, and if those two are coming to rescue Peachy, they're gonna need a getaway car." They got off the seat, "And since you're a mechanic, maybe you can toy around with one of them to help them escape. You're already trapped here after all."

"Huh," Pauline headed for the door. "Not a bad idea Birdo. I'll go find one then."

"No prob," Pauline was about to leave. "Oh hey, before you go:  
What do you think of the name Birdetta?"

"Why? Plan on changing yours," she asked. Birdo just shrugged and looked around. "Oh. Well, in that case, it's a beautiful name for a beautiful woman. And it would suit you well."

"Thanks Pauline," Birdetta smiled as she waved goodbye.

Pauline walked around the castle grounds, as the place was bustling with construction on a stage, normal chatter, and even attack plans.

"Remember, we are criminally low on syrup, so search high and low of the Mushroom Kingdom for it in these spots, and destroy anything in your way!" Commanded one hammer brother. Pauline spilled some coffee on the plans when no one was looking as she passed by. She found her way to a hallway where Bowser had just left a room, the ground shaking with his steps. A large gold key from his hip, jumping with his steps.

Pauline peered into the room to find a clown car, and ducked in without them seeing. She beamed when she saw the clown cars and made her way over.

"Pauline?" She looked over to find Princess Peach locked in a cage hovering over lava. The joy was quickly replaced by grimace and annoyance.

"Hello, Peach," Pauline gritted her teeth.

"I take it you're still upset?" Peach crossed her arms.

"Yeah, you're right," Pauline took out her wrench. "I mean, it's been, pfff, a day? I should be over you putting my friends in mortal danger."

"What are you doing here, anyway?" Peach didn't even blink.

"Bowser's henchmen can't tell women apart, apparently, and just grabbed as many human women as they could. Also, don't believe in guarding, since escaping was the easiest thing in the world."

"Then why are you here," Peach resting her cheek in her hand.

"I'm gonna work on one of these clown cars," Pauline pushed one over and opened a control panel on it. "And make it easier for when the brothers escape from here."

"Why don't you try to rescue me then?" Peach asked.

"Because the key to that cage is through Bowser, and I got bested by a large monkey," Pauline answered.

"Why is Mario so important to you anyway?" Peach relaxed in the cage. Pauline looked up with complete distain.

"When I moved to New Donk, I was not the most comfortable," Pauline explained. "I got harrassed all the time, for different reasons. My clothes, my job as a mechanic, my accent, to the point where I had to learn to hide it, and I don't think I can get it back now.

"One day I was at my wits end, lost my job, with no way to home, and rain pouring down on me. I just started bawling, it was, without exageration, one of the worst days in my life."

Peach's eyes lowered and she rolled over to her direction. "And then, the rain stopped pouring on me. I looked over, and saw Mario holding the umbrella, and he asked what was wrong. I have never seen anyone with that genuine kindness in my life."

She got up and pulled out a tool box from another disrepaired clown car. "And when you decided to take advantage of that kindness, needless to say, I was more than a little agrivated."

Peach sat upright, with her hands in her lap, "I understand why you're upset, I do. But don't you think that such a kind person would help me without a second's thought the same way as he did you?"

"Yeah, but-"

"And if the brothers were smart enough to save you from a construction building from Donkey Kong, then why don't you think they can save me?"

"Well, I mean-"

"And you should know that Mario and Luigi's parents are world renowned defenders of the Mushroom Kingdom. Are you implying that they couldn't measure up to their family's heritage?"

"Didja eat an expired sandwich before this conversation?" Because that was a lot of baloney you just spewed," Pauline stood up. "That's not the problem. The problem is that you took someone from their home, without their say, no notice to their family except a lousy letter, and still expect to be treated as the good guy."

"It should be noted, my father gave him the option to leave, and he decided to stay," Peach argued.

"Did _you give_ him the option to leave? Or did you try guiltting him to stay?" Pauine said point blank.

"That's irrelevant, it was still his decision to stay," Peach shot back. "You have no idea about what leaders will have to sacrifice for the greater good."

"Ugh..." Pauline went back to the machine. "You know, I do. I majored in political science in college. Still saying, you could've done better."

Peach scrunched up into a ball in her cage. The creaks in the chains sounded off putting as it clashed with the motor sputting from the clown cars. "Look, I was desparate. I needed something, and that was the best I got." Pauline glanced over at her with narrowed eyes, and went back to work.

"Hey, why don't you run for office?" Peach suggested, "like a mayor, or something?"

"Yeah right, who would vote for some lowly mechanic?" Pauline dismantled other clown cars for parts.

"I would," Peach paced around her cage. "And if New Donk saw you get endorsed by both the Princess and heroes of Mushroom Kingdom, you'd be a shoe in."

"You're kidding right?"

"Not in the slightest," Peach said bluntly. "I expect great things from you, Pauline." Pauline didn't reach her gaze, but lowered her wrench.

"I'll… I'll think about it."

Pauline heard Kamek yell for her and bolted out of the room.

Later that night, Peach laid down on the cage, and brought her brooch closer to her face. "Mario, you awake?"

"Yup, surprisingly," Mario said with a yawn.

"How's things going on your end?"

"We met your friend Daisy, she's a tad… Excitable."

"Heh, yeah she's great," Peach replied.

"You know, I think I get what you mean now," he said. "This is exhausting, how do you do it?"

"Well, usually with three pots of coffee in the morning, but that doesn't seem viable right now."

"Ha, I do the same," Mario chuckled.

"Oh dear, we are a mess," she put her face into her hands. "I kid you not, this one time, I was looking for the remote to the TV, and I found it in the fridge."

"How did that happen?" Mario asked.

"Toadsworth and I just agreed that we have a ghost named Gary doing it, and he just refuses to pay rent."

"Oh stars, can we not talk about ghosts, please?" Mario slumped in the guest bed.

"Met up with the Boos?"

"That's one way to put it," Mario said through a pillow.

"The Boos are awful, with those loud shrieks and cackles- One kept sending me haikus in the mail."

"Why?"

"Oh, I love poetry," she answered. "It can be so beautiful in such a short amount of words. I went to dozens of poetry slams, wrote my own, have entire books on it-"

"Then why was the Boo's haiku an issue?"

"He was bad at it." They shared a laugh with that. Peach cleared her throat, "yes, well, it's not important to know that."

"Peach, why do you do that?" Mario looked up at the ceiling.

"Do what?" She laid flat on her back.

"Start to be excited or have fun with something, then immediately go back to acting poise and proper?"

"I… Don't know what you speak of," her voice was monotonous.

"Or when it seems like you're about to open up, you act like nothing has happened the next second. Like you're trying to keep everyone at a distance," he extended his arm. "And not being very good at it."

"Sometimes distance is best," she held herself.

"I getcha," he shrugged. "You don't want your loved ones to worry about you. Have to be the strong one people depend on, so you close yourself off from your friends, family, and even the world."

Peach scoffed, "how would you know any of this? What makes you think you know how I feel?"

"Because I do the same thing." Silence befell the two, as Mario rested his hands behind his arms.

"Good night, Mario."


	5. Hi, I'm Daisy!

Mario and Luigi were taken to a hotel accompanied by Daisy. It was around noon when Daisy and Luigi decided to check up on Mario.

"Sooo, is he dead?" Daisy asked, peaking into Mario's guestroom, passed out cold in the bed.

"I take issue that you asked if my brother was dead so casually," Luigi whispered, quietly closing the door.

"I take issue that a guy might've died in a hotel room," Daisy stretched. "Personally, I think you should be more concerned with me taking that nonchalantly more than anything else."

Luigi gave a heavy sigh and pushed Daisy to the elevator, "He's been through a lot. Just give him some rest."

"Koopa King gonna ransack a Kingdom some more and marry my best friend here," Daisy sang mockingly.

"I'm sorry we didn't save the world in three days," Luigi punched in the buttons to get to the lobby. "Clearly we have failed." Luigi slumped over, with no energy to his voice. Daisy stopped having cheeky grin and laid her hand on his shoulder.

"Hey, look, I'm just joking around," she rubbed his back. "I'm sure we'll do great out there. And it won't be that bad, we'll be able to get there before they marry." They walked into the lobby and over to the dining hall. Luigi poured some orange juice and threw a frozen waffle in a toaster.

"Yeah, I mean those ceremonies take months to plan and-"

"It's on Saturday," Daisy bit into an apple, Luigi choked on his OJ.

"What?" Luigi asked. "What do you mean- It's only Thursday!"

"Well, yeah," Daisy shrugged. "Once Peach marries to Bowser, that means he gets full control on Mushroom Kingdom's resources. And also because he's a creep. Of course he's gonna do it as soon as possible."

"Can she get a divorce immediately after?" The waffle popped out, and Luigi yanked a bite out of it.

"Not with royalty," Daisy answers. "Those kingdoms unite, you can't go back on it. Once it happens she's stuck with it."

Luigi dragged his hat over his face with a worried grumble under his breath. He staggers out of the hotel and grips on one of the podiums in front of the door. He starts taking sharp quick breathes, with a roaring in his ears. Daisy comes from behind and rests her hand on his back again.

"Dude. Breath," she said casually. "It's not full proof, but take slow deep breathes, and count to ten," she demonstrated with her breathing. Luigi followed afterwards and did calm down a bit.

"Thank you," Luigi sputtered out as he took more deep breaths.

"No problem, man," Daisy wrapped her arm around him. "Look, we still got another day left. We can relax a bit this day, since having a heart attack during battle probably isn't gonna help any."

"We aren't even in the sand land yet, how are we going to get there in a day?" Luigi fidgeted with his hands. Daisy gave a sly smirk and Luigi already started grimacing. She took him to an unusually sandy lot in the middle of a grassy field.

"Luigi, do you know of the sand bird?" She backed into the edge of the sand, acting as though showing off a magic trick.

"Those giant Isle Delfino birds? Yeah, I know 'em," Luigi shrugged. Daisy whistled and the sand pile started pulsating, spreading sand everywhere.

"Isle Delfino ain't the only place for sand birds!" Daisy grinned as she posed with her arms wide open in a 'ta da' pose. The sand sprouted out wings and started flapping them. They flung themselves high in the air, two large gemstones popped into where the eyes would be, a long tail submerged and they towered over the two. They gently floated back down to the ground and nuzzled Daisy.

"The Birabuto Kingdom has these babies pop up from time to time," she caressed the sand bird's beak softly. "This one is my little Red Jasper." Luigi slowly tip toed up to the bird, extending his arm to pet it. Red Jasper flung into Luigi, and snuggled up to him.

"Aw, 'lil Red likes you!" Daisy cooed, as Luigi struggled to get out.

"I see that," Luigi coughed out as he was smuggled by sand. "Can you call 'em off, please though? I'd like to breath." Daisy whistled and Red whooshed over to her side and stood proud.

"This little sweetheart is gonna get us to Koopa Kingdom in no time flat. That's how I got from Sarasaland to here in under a day," Daisy lunged herself onto the bird. Red bowed down towards Luigi, Daisy patting the empty space next to her. "Come on, let's go on a test ride."

Luigi backed up nervously, looking up at the endless sky. Daisy patted the bird again, and she gazed at him warmly. Luigi took a deep breath and climbed onto the bird behind her. "Comfy?"

"Not in the slightest." Luigi had a nervous laugh.

"That's normal, now let's go!" Red flapped up and down and took off into the sky. Luigi stumbled around trying to get friction but couldn't on the loose sand. He flailed around so much he almost slipped, until Daisy caught his hand. "Relax!" She gave a reassuring smile, "you gonna be alright, I promise!"

She tugged him back to his former position, and wrapped his hands around her waist. Luigi stared down into the now specks of land seen through the clouds below. He couldn't even see any people anymore, and started hyperventilating again. He realized what he was doing and started taking deeper breaths. He held himself closer to Daisy.

"Man, this really freaks you out, doesn't it?" Daisy looked back at him.

"Si, mi dis- I mean, yeah, sorry," Luigi corrected. "I know I'm a bit of a coward, sorry for being a bother." He gripped on her tighter.

"Nah dude, being scared is nothing to be ashamed about," Daisy tapped Red on the head, and he started just gliding through the air. "World's a scary place, my guy. No one would blame ya." She pried the hands off her waist and flopped down on the sand. "We're cruising, you can relax now." Luigi felt around the sand and laid down next to her.

"You know, I didn't expect you to be so laid back with me," Luigi rested his hands on his chest.

"Why do you say that?" Daisy let out a yawn.

"Well, most people aren't patient with it, really," They stared up at the cloudless blue sky. "But more on the fact that Peach seems so serious and you are friends and you dress like her."

"Oh yeah," Daisy put her arms behind her head "The whole dress and hair thing was so I could look more like Peachy."

"Really?" Luigi glanced over.

"Yep. 'Oh, you must look more elegant,'" she said in a mocking voice and waved her hands. "'Be more like the Mushroom Kingdom, they're so refined and proper and pretty, you should be more like that.'" Her hands flopped back down as she sighed.

"That's odd," Luigi seemed much more relaxed now. "You're already pretty, why emulate Peach?"

"Well the dress is more traditional and- wait, what did ya say?" Daisy swerved her head towards him.

"I said you're pretty already," Luigi didn't even flinch when asked again. One of the few times he seemed completely confident in what he was saying. Daisy eyed him suspiciously for a minute, but gave it up and smiled.

"Thanks. Not to bad looking yourself," she lightly elbowed him.

"Thank you, but don't elbow me again," Luigi said without skipping a beat. "I feel like I'm gonna fall off."

"Yeah, I mean it'd be bad if you fell off," Daisy said sarcastically. "It's not like I have a giant bird that can swoosh down and save you or anything!"

"You are such a jerk, you know that?" They both sat back up.

"I punched a boo for you!" Daisy shouted. Luigi looked over at her, completely straight faced, and elbowed her slightly. They both burst out laughing, "No! This is treason!" Their banter continued like that for awhile.

Mario found himself in a fiery pit once again. A shadowy Bowser in the distance was seen again. It loomed over him as it got closer and closer. The thunderous roars started having a higher pitch to them. The shadow contorted into a different body, but one that looked familiar to him.

When the beast was right in front of him, it was still covered in shadows. It's shape continued contorting between that of Bowser and on a woman figure. White glowing eyes opened to look down on him, and lifted it's leg. Faint murmurs of angry chatter echoed throughout the pit as it's foot came crashing down to him.

"Housekeeping!" Mario opened his eyes to the sound of two toads outside of the door. He wasn't shaking, he wasn't sweating, his hearing and sight was perfectly fine. It concerned him that he was becoming desensitized to everything that's happened, as he felt nothing.

"Yeah, come in," Mario continued on, but did notice a pounding headache. The two toads opened up the door with their supplies as Mario grabbed his gloves.

"Hey, you look familiar," a blue toad asked. "Weren't you on the news, uh, Jumpman or something?" The toad grabbed the blanket off the bed.

"No, sorry," he headed for the bathroom. He splashed water on his face to wake up, and noticed the time on the clock over the towel rack. 'Two PM.' He thought, 'I should probably call Peach to see how she's doing.'

"So," said one of the house keepers to the other. "What are you gonna do when the world inevitably collapses?" They said it with a force cheer and higher pitched tone.

"Toadsell, be a bit optimistic," the other one replied. "Something could change, she did get help from Jumpman."

"Oh yeah, he seems totally competent," Mario rested his elbows on the bathroom sink and started rubbing his forehead. "Took on one monkey and somehow can jump to the Koopa King. He is gonna crash and burn- quite literally in this case- so quickly." Mario felt like going back to sleep would be a good option right now.

"Okay, fine," the other Toad caved. "He may not seem like the best, but it's the best we got. Have some faith."

Mario just staring at himself in the mirror, no change in expression or emotion. He had lost all the anger, fear, sadness and guilt that have been swarming him and had an emptiness inside. He wasn't offended by the comments, more resigned as accepting his fate.

"Okay, so I was thinking Chai Kingdom seemed like a good place to move," the toad forfeited.

Mario gave a long sigh and dragged himself out of the bathroom. He headed straight to he front desk to check out and walked outside.

He took out the jewelry from Peach and spoke into the brooch.

"Ciao, Peach," he said. "Sorry it's been so long, but don't worry, we're on our way."

"That's good," she replied. "Thank you. For everything."

"Where is this coming from?"

"This is a tiring adventure," she answered. "Just thought I'd show some appreciation."

"Well, thanks," Mario shrugged. Mario looked over at a TV store, where reports on Peach getting married in a few days were playing. He went about his conversation as if he didn't register anything. "So, what's Vera's Amulet even about?"

"What?"

"We got some time to kill, might as well talk about more casual stuff," he sat on a nearby bench. "I realized I probably made you uncomfortable last night, so I thought-"

"No, you didn't do anything wrong," she cut him off. "But, um, Vera's Amulet is about a young girl rediscovering her grandpa's inventions and befriends a robot. She constantly worked hard at school and would crack if anything was under an A. And at the end, she gets a C in math, and for once is okay with it."

"Wow, spoilers," he replied cheekily.

"It's ten years old!"

"So is Manic Knight, I don't tell you how that ends."

"Okay, how does it end?" She stifled a laugh.

"I'm not telling you, I have standards, darn it!"

"Does it end with a credit roll?" There was a pause between them.

"Well shoot, if you know the twist, might as well give away the entire thing now," he smiled. "So, you play as this janitor that gets thrown into the past and has to act as a knight. He misses his family, and we're shown flashbacks of him not talking to them about anything in his life. And when you go back to the present, he breaks down on how happy he is to see them, and tells them the whole story."

"Oh, well that's sweet," she replied.

"Yeah, it always reminded me of my family," he reminisced. "Also given that my dad bought this game when I was little too. I know all the secrets, it's really fun. But I'm rambling."

"Nah, you're fine," she said. "I think someone's coming though. Gonna have to let you go."

"Goodbye Peach."

Luigi and Daisy came up to him, still covered in sand.

"What happened to you two? Where have you guys been?" He asked.

"Test running our way to Koopa Kingdom," Daisy beamed. "We're using a sand bird, baby! Also, we got lunch." She pulled out a sandwich for Mario. She turned her attention towards Luigi, "who were you speaking gibberish to on the phone anyway?"

"My papa, and it's Italian," his eyes were half closed.

"Same thing," Daisy shrugged with a smirk. "Anyway, let's go!" And they headed off to Red Jasper and flew their way throughout out the night.

Peach looked down to see Pauline sneak back into the room and work on the clown cars. "Hello, Pauline," she said politely. Pauline worked in silence as she fidgeted with the engine. "So, how was your day?" Peach sat down as the cage rocked back and forth. "Why are you still mad at me? Mario doesn't seem to care, yet you're holding a grudge."

"Are you seriously still painting yourself as the victim?" Pauline shot up. "I'll stop doing this, when you realize what you've done. And trying to bribe me with a pipe dream about being a mayor isn't going to help you." She got an engine running on a clown car and was able to get it off the ground. "Now if you'll excuse me, I need to actually help people," she headed for the door.

"Look, I needed someone to protect me!" Peach's chains rattled from above. "I have a kingdom to protect, and I need to do so by any means necessary. That includes taking Mario!" Pauline let the room fall silent, still standing with now clenched fists.

She took a deep breath, and looked at the ground. "You would be a good bride for Bowser." Peach's eyes softened, and uncrossed her arms. Her heels could be heard as she stepped back on the warm metal and grabbed for the bars. The only thing that could be heard was the rain hitting the castle.

"Pauline, I-"

"Goodnight, Peach." Pauline stormed out.


	6. Sorry, Your Princess is still in This Ca

"Don't go to sleep," Mario thought, as he and the others floated upon Red during midnight. He stared at the sparkling velvet sky, Swoopers occasionally flying by. Daisy and Luigi were snuggled up to each other, as Mario sat on the tail end. "Don't go to sleep, it's only going to be worse and worse."

"Oh, how is that any different than right now?" He argued with himself. "Mushroom Kingdom is going to be taken down, and it's all your fault and you know it is. No, no, have to be a little positive, like Peach has been much nicer lately. Oh, so you're just going on this adventure because you want to get the girl- No, chiudi!"

"Then why did you go on this suicide mission then, huh?" His inner voice got louder and more aggressive. "Did you just go on this because it'd be fun? You did enjoy talking down to those boos and goombas, didn't you? Or was it to be great like your parents? Oh wait, they weren't! Guess the apple doesn't fall far from the tree."

"Why am I doing this to myself?" He asked. "I never did this before, what is wrong with me?" Mario's vision started going blurry again, and a pounding headache came with. He started swaying around in his seat and tried grabbing onto the sand. The sand fell loose as he lost his balance and fell down.

It actually took him till a swooper hit him to actually notice he was falling, he was so tired. He started falling through a thicket, not being able to hold on to any branches. Fortunately for him, he landed on a familiar looking mini dinosaur.

"Oh, ciao Yoshi," Mario mumbled sleepily. He shot up right after when he realized what he said, and fell off of him. "Yoshi?! Oh no, how am I going to get there now?"

"Mario?" Peach rang from the earrings. "You're still awake?"

"Oh, that picked up?" Mario pulled the brooch and earrings out.

"Yes, it did. You okay?" She asked.

"Yeah, yeah, I'm fine," he paced around. "Just a small detour- I fell off a bird, hit another bird, but it's fine I swear!" He was running out of breath.

"Mario, calm down," Peach let her voice break more often and trembled a bit.

"I'm fine, I'm fine," Mario sputtered out. "I'll be okay. Just, I lost my ride to the Koopa Kingdom, and I'll have to figure out how to get there in two days from who knows where and-"

"Mario, go home." Peach said coldly. A few yoshis gathered around after hearing the commotion. The air was still and quiet, as nothing moved or made any sound.

"What?"

"It was wrong of me to force you on this mission," Peach answered with a sigh. "You were a wonderful person, Mario. And it's clearly taken a toll on you. Go home, and take a break."

"Wait, no, Peach- Uh, Toadstool, I-"

"Mario, you do not have to take anymore orders from your Princess. Take care." On the other end, Peach was moving her jewels over to a space between the bars. She dumped them into the lava below, and watched as they melt down. She took a deep breath, and walked away.

"Peach? Peach!" Mario called, but only met with deafening silence. Mario let the jewelry drop to the ground, and started walking forward. Yoshi cried out to him and followed after, wondering what he was doing. "My brother and Princess Daisy are still going there. I need to go get them."

Yoshi stepped in front of him as he put his hand to him and shook his head. Mario pushed him aside and continued dredging forward. Yoshi tapped his foot and crossed his arms, glaring at him. He walked back up to him and yanked him by the arm back.

"Yoshi, no," he pushed him off again. This time Yoshi just caught him with his tongue and carried him off in his mouth. He did a jolly little dance on his way out. For a long while Mario was stuck in there, and being a mouth, that's as much detail as there's gonna be.

Yoshi eventually spat him out into a bedroom, where he tumbled into a bed. "Yoshi, what were you-" He felt around the wooden frame of a bed behind him. "Yoshi, I am not going to sleep. Now where did you take me?" Yoshi shook his head and blocked the door out.

"I am not playing around, let me go," he tried going through the door, but Yoshi kept blocking any attempts and pointed to the bed. "I don't need sleep, there are more important things to do." Yoshi pointed back again, more insistent. "My life is already a nightmare as is, I don't need any more of them!"

Yoshi cocked his head to the side with a confused look. "I've had nothing but nightmares for the last week, okay? And it's just a reminder of everything awful happening. And I'm on the verge of quitting right now, and if I don't do it now, I don't know if I'll be able to do it at all. So, please, just..." Mario stammered out of breath.

Yoshi came over and hugged him, Mario being taken slightly aback. "I don't know what to do. I don't even know if what I'm doing is for the right reasons. And I just want this whole ordeal to be over and done with." Yoshi let out a small squeak and guided him back to the bed, tucking him in.

"Fine, fine, you win. I'll go to bed, but it's going to be just as bad and you know it," Mario forfeited. Yoshi patted him on his head and walked out of the room. Quickly, Mario rested his eyes and dozed off. He had the best dream he could have this week: None at all.

"Mario!" Luigi called out into the woods as the sky was full of red and orange hues. "Fratello, io sono Luigi! Dove sei?" Daisy was pacing around Red with her hands behind her back. She stopped and looked into the distance, where the top of Bowser's castle can be seen. Dark clouds surrounded it, contorted in waves due to the fire below.

"Luigi," Daisy walked over to him. "We need to go. We'll have to find Mario later, we don't have time for-"

"No." Luigi turned to her, "I am not moving forward until I find him. He deserves to have someone by his side through all this."

"Peach needs someone too, and she's counting on us," Daisy waved to the castle in the distance. "The ceremony is tomorrow, we need to get there now."

"Then go," Luigi walked by the way they come. "No one's stopping you!" Luigi slid down a hill, and made his way through the forest.

The trees' shade speckled throughout gave relief to the sun beating down. Only a few crickets were chirping away. The wind started picking up as the leaves started shaking. Sand started swirling around him, and Red dropped down in front of him.

"Come on, let's go find him," Daisy patted the sand next to her.

"Really?" Luigi came up.

"Yes, really," Daisy reached a hand out to him. "If Mario is as important to you as Peach is to me, then he's worth saving." She beamed as Luigi took her hand and sat next to her. Red started to spread his wings.

"Luigi?" Mario came out riding Yoshi. "Were you looking for me?"

"Mario!" Luigi tumbled off Red and ran to his brother with open arms. "You're okay! What happened?"

"I was trying to stay awake while on Jasper, and I fell off because I was too tired." He explained calmly. "Yoshi caught me, and made me sleep until I was feeling better, so-"

"You've been sleeping all day?" Daisy screamed.

"All day? What are you talking about, it's only sunrise." Mario stretched, looking much more rejuvenated than before.

"It's sun _set._ You slept all day, we need to get going," Daisy frantically waved towards the castle. The boys were getting on, including Yoshi.

Red Jasper soared high above where the citizens below didn't take much notice to it. They jumped off on top of the roof, and kicked away some loose blocks to get through. The hallways were empty and filled with portraits of Bowser. They were dimly lit however, so they all towered over them in the darkness.

Mario looked up where the eyes would be on the portraits, though couldn't see it, felt like they were watching their every move. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath, trying to be silent so the others wouldn't notice. Yoshi patted him on his back, where Mario tensed up a bit.

Foot steps were heading their way, followed with ineligible chatter. Daisy took out a fire flower, and held the other two back as she lit a fire ball in her hand. A familiar looking purple creature with a tall woman came around the corner, as Daisy began to lunge.

"Whoa, whoa, Daisy, they're friendly!" Luigi grabbed onto Daisy's waist, which made her careen the fireball into the wall. "Ciao, Pauline."

"You guys are actually here?" Pauline was in a new golden dress with a leg slit cut through. Birdetta was wearing the same, with a gold top hat. "I'm so happy you're all in one piece," she ran over and hugged the brothers.

"That's perfect," Birdetta exclaimed. "We have to do a show to entertain Bowser before the ceremony. Her cage will be loomed high above everyone else, so you'll be able to get her out without anyone noticing. We actually came up here to get her key." Birdetta pulled out the key.

"That would work out well," Mario agreed. "Come on, let's get to it!"

They rushed down to the main hall, where it's empty due to the commotion in the theater room. Mario, Luigi, and Daisy jumped to a support beam above.

"Yoshi," Mario called down. "Wait for us outside, you're our ride. Something happens, come find us. Red can't be too close to heat, he'll turn into a glass bird, and it's already difficult enough to stay on top of him. So it's up to you to take us to him." Yoshi yipped in agreement and heading out the front door.

In the theater, the trio was balancing on the beams as Peach was lowered in her cage. She held her head in her cheek as she sat down cross legged.

"Ladies, gentlemen and everything in between!" Shouted Birdetta, "you could've been anywhere tonight, but you chose the Koopa Kingdom for silly ol me. Hopefully I won't get egg on my face." She winked to the audience as they laughed to the bad pun. "Without further ado, presenting my new song 'Two hearts in Doki Doki Panic.'"

She disappears into the curtains, as the lights dim, spotlights on some Koopa dancers. The trio made their way to Peach's cage, trying to be as quiet as possible. Mario kept his eyes forward until he heard a snarl from below. It was just Bowser yawning, but a few flames exited his mouth as he did so.

Mario stopped in his tracks, unable to move, losing control of his breathing again. The wood he was standing on was starting to crack and creak. Kamek started looking around, clearly aware of the sound.

"Mario," Daisy whispered, "what are you doing?"

"Bro, are you alright?" Luigi asked under his breath.

"Yeah, yeah, fine, let's just go," Mario started creeping towards Peach quicker. He shimmed down the metal bars of Peach's cage, still making slight creaking sounds. Mario put his finger to his mouth when Peach saw him, she was still taken aback.

"But, I said not to come," Peach whispered, her hands brought together.

"Yeah, but I don't need to take orders from you anymore, now do I?" Mario weakly smiled, with Peach doing the same. As Mario was turning the key, Kamek started looking around more and more, to the point of getting out of his seat.

"Kamek is gonna find us," Daisy hissed between her teeth.

"What do we do?" Luigi asked. Daisy looked over at the stage and back to Luigi. She took a deep breath and walked tall closer to the stage.

"They want a princess? They got one." Daisy jumped onto the stage as the song was reaching it's climax. Luigi tried to grab after her, but it was too late. Peach got lifted up with Mario, and grabbed Luigi as they ran out of there.

Bowser stood up and loomed over the three girls.

"Sup Bowser, how's it going?" Daisy joked with a smirk. It didn't last long as he grabbed her and Pauline.

"Sir, Peach is gone!" Kamek called out as he noticed the cage.

"You know what to do, Kamek." Bowser said simply as he dragged Pauline and Daisy out of the room.

The brothers were near the door when they heard the screams of Daisy and Pauline. The brothers gave each other a nervous glance, and Peach jumped out of Mario's arms.

"Go find them," Peach said sternly. "I'll be fine, you've helped me enough. Yoshi's just beyond this door, I'll get out of here in no time, and I'm the one he wants. Now go!"

The brothers nodded in agreement and scurried to the yells. "Oh, and Mario," he turned around to her. "Thank you." Mario's eyes widened, followed by a smile. He waved goodbye as he rushed down the halls.

The brothers found the girls hanging over a pit of lava behind a steel door with a glass window. They jumped up and swung over to an empty space, hoping it would break. Instead, it broke in the center of the lava pit. They fell expecting to be burned, but instead walked atop the flames, to realize it was just a projection onto a metal floor.

Metal walls started appearing around them, and the steel door slammed shut. They tried busting their way out, when Kamek appeared in the window.

"Gotta admit, you made it much farther than I thought you would," Kamek taunted. "Though, seriously, did you expect us to _not_ recognize this lovely _Lady."_ He motioned over to Pauline, "we caught on you wouldn't leave your friend alone, or another princess, so as a safety precaution, we set this cell as a back up.

"No matter, Peach is far away from here!" Mario fought back.

"How did she do that? With maybe, I dunno, a _Yoshi?_ Somewhere in the ballpark in that one, eh plumber boy?" Kamek cackled, desperation flooded Mario. "She's still in this castle, and the wedding is still on. Nice job, 'hero.'" He laughed as he flew away from them.


	7. Mistakes were Made

"Why. Won't. You. Break. OPEN?!" Daisy threw her fists to the door, mostly the glass, but no budge. She kept pushing on it, kicking it, any physical force means necessary.

Pauline was leaning back on the wall, arms crossed, with a glare that could kill a man, plastered on her face. Luigi was pacing around, ruffling around with his hat in his hands. Meanwhile, Mario was just sitting on the other side, staring through a barred window overlooking the night sky.

"Come on!" Daisy yelled some more, "we did not come all this way to just lose her!" She began to run low on breath, and she was shaking heavily.

"Maybe this wouldn't have happened if Peach actually tried training guards," Pauline mumbled beneath her breath.

"Oh shut up!" Daisy started taking off her shoe, "my best friend is going to get forcibly married by a creep, lose her kingdom, and hundreds of innocent people are in danger!" She chucked her shoe at Pauline, as she dodged it.

"Am I wrong, though?" Pauline argued back, "She had the option to actually train people that wanted to go in the work force. And she clearly could've gone beyond her kingdom! But no, she waited till the last minute, to drag some poor guy off the streets and forced him to do this and-"

"She told me to go home, Pauline." Mario said bluntly. They all turned their attention to him, with him refusing to meet their gaze. "She called me yesterday, and said to go home, and it was wrong of her to drag me into this. Either way, she still doesn't deserve this."

He fells silent again, as so did the rest of the group. Daisy slowly walked over to Pauline and pointed to her shoe. Pauline handed it back, with no discernible expression.

Luigi moved over to Mario's side, to which he responded with by turning his head away. "Hey Mario, why did you," he stopped when he realized Mario sniffing and kept moving his hands to his eyes. "Mario are you-" he looked back at the girls.

"Fratello, che c'è di sbagliato? (Bro, what's wrong?)" He asked softly.

"Niente di Luigi, sto bene. Lasciami solo. (Nothing Luigi, I'm fine. Leave me alone.)" He took in a sharp breath.

"Tipo di difficile da fare qui. (Kind of hard to do that here.)" Luigi wrapped his arm around his back. "Cosa c'è di sbagliato?" He asked more sternly. Mario spilled everything he was feeling the last week through a bunch of slurred Italian.

"(All I wanted to do was make everyone happy and okay, and be great like Mama and Papa were. But nothing seems to be working, and that Mama wasn't a hero like everyone said she was, I have no idea how to think. I feel like such a failure.)" He held his legs together.

Luigi wrapped his arms around Mario and rocked him back and forth. "(Did I ever tell you what that conversation I had with papa was about?)"

"No."

"(I asked him about Mama being Koopa's righthand man, and he said it was completely true.)" Mario looked solemnly at him, then lowered his head down. "(However, he told me that she became the hero she was, because of that. Papa showed her a way out of that life, and she helped others through it too. Mama made a mistake the same way Peach, Pauline, Daisy, and you and me have made in our lives and along this journey.)"

"(Our parents made mistakes along the way- Doesn't mean they're bad or can't do good things- It means they're human. And are not perfect icons that need to be on a pedestal and can't break from that at any point. That applies to you too, Mario.)" Luigi let go of him, as Mario started wiping up the tears.

"(I know you put a lot of pressure on yourself, but remember this: You're never alone.)" He waved across the room to Pauline, Daisy and himself.

"Thanks Luigi," Mario finally smiled throughout the ordeal.

"You know, I'm still kind of surprised they went through so much to stop us," said Luigi. "He's a giant fire breathing King with a legion of henchmen. What's he got to be afraid of?"

"Afraid of?" Mario repeated back. He jumped up, "LUIGI! THAT'S IT!"

"What is?" Luigi jolted back out of surprise, the girls circling them.

"Bowser's afraid of us!" He grinned, "think about it! Months of threats, but only after I showed up he decides to go all out. Using the boos to try and disuade us because of our mama's history. Kamek putting all this together to trick us and keep us trapped. Bowser is scared of us, so we're considered the first real threat to him!"

"Yeah, but doesn't change the fact we're still in a cage," Daisy remarked.

"You rang?" Birdetta opened the door wide open for them. "They really need to learn how to hide keys better." The group came rushing out, Pauline hugging Birdetta.

"Where's Peach?" Mario spat out.

"Down the hall," Birdetta replied. "Pauline, the clown cars are in the same room from before, Daisy, Yoshi's still outside. Go get your bird friend, and fly around back, because they're going to need a quick ride outta here."

"But what about you?" Pauline asked.

"Taking out Kamek. If I just find a way to have the guards turn on him, it could work," Birdetta reasoned.

"They plan on taking Mushroom Kingdom because of their syrup, so if you maybe planted some on him- But where are we going to get syrup?" Pauline questioned. Mario pulled some out of his pocket and handed it to Birdetta.

"Peach does prepare sometimes," Mario said. "Now let's-a go!"

The brothers hurried down the long corridor to an overbearing dark red door in front of them. Luigi continued moving forward, but Mario stood before it, staring deeply. He started having sharp breaths once more, and flashbacks of everything that had happened within the last week. His vision blurred and he heard a high pitched ringing again.

"Mario?" Luigi grabbed his hand, and that knocked him back into reality. "Take deep breaths. Not full proof, but it helps." His breathing started returning to normal, as did vision and hearing. "Va bene spaventarsi. E non importa cosa succede, hai fatto grande."

Mario took one last deep breath, and ran with him inside the door. At the end of the overbearing and sweltering hall, was a bridge with an axe at the other end. The brothers started creeping across the bridge, but were stopped with Bowser crashing down in front of them.

The koopa was no longer covered in shadow and was surrounded by his element. He was well aware of that, and looked down with a thunderous cackle. He breathed fire above as a warning to them, along with a few ground shaking jumps. The brothers stood their ground, though not without hesitation.

Mario grabbed Luigi without a second's thought and charged straight through as Bowser jumped above them. He swung the axe through the rope of the bridge, and it gave way to Bowser falling below. He was devoured by the lava before Mario could register what happened.

"Wow, that was surprisingly easy." Mario said in complete shock. A high pitched yell was heard from behind them followed by a sharp 'thud.' They turned around too see Peach got out of her cage from above, clearly not without some trouble. "Peach!"

Mario threw his axe into the lava as he rushed to Peach's side, Luigi not to far off. "Nicely done, you two," Peach stumbled around, still rather dizzy. "Let's go home," she said and started wandering back to the lava before Mario turned her into the right direction.

"Wrong way, Peach," said Mario, still holding her hand. They all shared a small laugh, that was quickly interuppted by a large roar.

The floor started rumbling again, and lava started spilling over. A claw that was only bones shot out and digged onto the floor. Another one followed, and Bowser's skull burst out, roaring at them. Complete with the axe sticking out from his forehead.

Mario quickly picked up Peach, and would've grabbed Luigi if he didn't shoot off into the distance long before them. The room was filling up with smoke that he had imagined so many times, but kept running forward. Even when he started choking on it, he just tried to get through the collapsing rubble before him.

Bowser was destroying everything in his wake, tearing down walls, cielings and most importantly, the floor. Everytime Mario thought he could slow down a bit and rest, the floor began collapsing beneath him. He was pushing all he got through every hack and wheeze, as the smoke began to really flood their lungs. Peach wasn't too far behind with the coughing.

"This is all your fault, you know," his inner voice returned. "All you had to do was go home! Peach migth've had to share her kingdom, but then she'd be alive! Your family can't do it, you certainly can't, and this was nothing but one giant mistake!"

"Oh, sta zitto! (Oh, shut up!)" he thought in return. "Ho fatto molti errori. (I made a lot of mistakes)." He looked down at the ash covered Peach, still coughing. "Questo non è uno di loro. (This isn't one of them.)" He charged through the deterioating room till he could see an open door.

Bowser, in one last final act, hits the cieling above them to bring the castle collapsing down on them. He disappeared into the lava, as Mario and Peach disappeared into the rubble.

Luigi and the others were waiting outside for him, and came rushing over as the castle collapsed onto them. The dug their way through the bricks, when it started expanding and bubbling up. Daisy grabbed everyone away from the pile as it exploded, revealing Peach using her wish power once again.

With the white shield from before, now a round, pink shield surrounding them. She stood straight up and clasped her hands together. Mario, breathing heavily, looked up as she floated above. For the first time, he admired her in a way he hadn't before.

The shield popped, and the debri went flying into the lava. She floated down and extended a hand to Mario and brought him back up. She looked at everyone staring at her, out of breath themselves. "Anyone else hungry? I can go for a cake right now."

They all shared a laugh, as Daisy ran to hug Peach. Luigi and Pauline did the same to Mario right after. They went on how they were so happy to see they were alright and how worried they were, until it was cut off by Birdetta.

"Uh guys," she pointed to Red starting to liquify. "We should probably get going." Yoshi nodded and scurried over to the bird. The rest followed after.

"Anyone who doesn't want to ride the death sand, clown car's over here," Pauline mentioned, and Mario, Birdetta and Peach immediately swerved over to it.

"Wusses," Daisy yelled.

"When we get back to Mushroom Kingdom," said Peach. "I think you all deserve a special treat." They returned in a few days, and Peach was able to return her subjects back from stone. That night, Peach hosted a party at her castle, with Birdetta singing them a song.

Mario danced around until finding Peach offering him a piece of cake. "Hey, thanks for all this. It really wasn't necessary." He took a bite of the cake.

"Neither was coming to save me, but you did it anyway," she shrugged. She gave a great sigh of relief and sunk into her chair.

"That's what friends do," he devoured the rest of the cake in one bite.

"Speaking of which," Peach teased. "I heard there was a Manic Knight remake, and it would be nice to play with someone that would tell me how awful I am at it."

"Really?" Mario grinned. "Because I heard Vera's Amulet was getting a movie adaptation, and I would love to see someone whose read the book lose their mind over every little missed detail." Mario took another slice out of the cake. "Though, I don't know how that would work with me living in a different kingdom."

"Well," Peach bit her lip. "What if you didn't?" Mario looked up, confused. "Your parent's old home was never bought out and is still in good shape. And if you decide to take it, you can work as my guard and all your and/or Luigi's expenses would be paid."

"But, I've learned my lesson," Peach continued. "I'm not going to pressure you into it. It's your decision, and I want you to be happy with whatever you choose." She laid her hands on his and held them softly.

Mario was looking around, when he sees Pauline out in the garden. "One second, Peach," he went out into the garden. "Hey Pauline, how are liking the party?"

"Yep." She answered bluntly.

"Pauline, that… That answer doesn't work here," Mario replied completely flat.

"Did you forget I speak italian too," she wrapped a strand of hair around her finger. "Because I was able to hear in on your conversation with Luigi back there. And with Peach just a second ago."

"You did?" He asked. "Also, do you have super hearing? That's a loud party."

"I started thinking," she gazed out into the violet hues of the sky, abstracted by the destroyed rose bushes. "Peach made a mistake. And me holding that selfish vendetta against her throughout this whole time didn't help anyone."

"You weren't selfish, you were just looking out for a friend," Mario reasoned.

"Yeah, but everyone's your friend," she said. "So you try to look out for everyone before yourself. That's just who you are, and you would do that with anyone." She knelt down to reach his eyes, and put her hands on his shoulder. "You're a great person, Mario. And if you want to stay and be Peach's guard, as a friend, I support you fully."

They hugged and Peach stood in the door way. She held herself much more timidly and shy, before Pauline waved her hand over to herself. She came over to their side, with a much more cheerful expression.

"So, wait, what about Luigi?" Pauline asked. As she said that, Luigi and Daisy dancing with her leading. She jumped into his arms and gave him a kiss to his surprise. She released with him smiling sheepishly.

"How close is Sarasaland?" Mario asked.

"Very." Peach answered bluntly. "Daisy! Luigi! Come over here, we need to talk!" The walked over, laughing along the way.

"Peach wants to know," Mario began, "if you want to stay in Mushroom Kingdom with me-"

"Yes." Luigi answered, followed by the rest of the group laughing.

Birdetta pulled through the bushes, "Pauline, if you wanted to sing that song, you gotta go on now."

"Song?" Mario asked.

"Well, it was going to be a birthday gift, but I decided a celebration like this called for it more," Pauline winked at the brothers. They all went into the front lawn where the stage was set. Mario and Luigi stood up close to the stage, Peach with her family, Daisy next to Yoshi.

The jazz instruments kicked up an upbeat and exciting melody, leading up to Pauline's lyrics, _"Here we go, off the rails, it's time to raise our sails. It's freedom like you never knew..."_


End file.
